Poet-Today | SAI Sabouke | The Arts-Muse Fair
Ar-Rahman
she was
reciting suratul Rahman
when she
got to the verse:
fabi ayyiha
la ir rabiku ma tukazziban
she held me
close and kissed me
a light
shone in my mouth and i gulped it
is this not
haram, i asked
she smiled
and replied
which of
the favours of Allah would you deny
there are
two heavenly muezzins
veiled by
her hijab that call me:
hayya alal
falah, hayya alal falah
so i hasten
to salvation in the Eden masjid,
her body
alhamd Allahul Akbar
which among
your favours would a sane man deny
i was
thirsty
there is a
dam below her torso
my lips
grew into diggers
so i dug
until i found water
a girl is a
dam holding
thirst-quenching
waters
which among
the favours of
Allah
would you
deny
He created
thirst
and created
a river
in the body
of a woman
epitaph (for the graves i know, unmarked)
here lies
aisha adele, 38
cold in a
ritzy #700,000 coffin
she slipped
and broke life's earthen jar
looking for
#700 to get medicine
for her
breath-eating malaria fever
here in
this grave lies shehu dan amu, 22.
poverty
pulled him out of school.
while
digging his way through life
he broke
the threshold of death
his sweat
became the naira notes
that paid
bills for his younger brother's surgery
under this
piece of land adorned with roses
lies
habeeba nuhu, 19.
a rare ruby
among debris of rust
death took
her by her father's door
she begged
to marry her beloved
alas, death
came 'fore her father's consent
here lies
amina issa zazzau, 23
a 300 level
law student in sokoto
her mind
fell in trance after memorizing
the
constitution of the vultures republic of nigeria
she was
consumed by state-owned bullets
while
marching for her faith in Zaria
here lies
my country,
a quicksand
of despair
gulping her
own breath
in the
hospice her presidents have taken her to
she will
gulp her last after she's dust
we see our god in lagos
we are eyes
if god is a
cheek
tears are
the prayers
we will
send him
until he is
drowned
in bitter
waters of our grief
but we are
not eyes
and our god
is not a cheek
yesterday
my sister asked
what do we
call a god
that dances
on his worshipers
as their
blood is spilt
by 'unknown
gunmen’?
few years
ago, mother said
a god was
seen dancing in kano
while in
yanya bombs shatter his land
and his
servants’ flesh
and blood
paints the streets
history
comes to us
like
menstrual waters
our fate is
set on repeat
while
bullets of 'unknown gunmen'
come
digging holes in the bodies
of our
people in zamfara
we see our
god in lagos
dancing
among strangers
*****
SAI Sabouke (formerly Siraj A Sabuke) is a made-by-Nigeria writer living in New Bussa, Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. He finds Sufism, History and Language as fascinating tools for man and society regeneration. His writings have appeared in Dugwe: Online Journal of Abuja Writers Forum, Synchronized Chaos Magazine, Peacock Journal, African Writer and elsewhere. Sabouke loves beans and dreams of roasting the entrails of vultures.
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