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From the ashes and dust
We rise again
Bearing the scars of death
As we count our lost
From the bones and graves around
Many have fallen
And the sword is red

We march through the village square
Bearing more corpses
Looking for a place to rest
From the raging sword of the invaders
We seek the face of the gods

Why do we dance on their graves?
Like masquerades in the village square
The kings come from afar
And we take them to the shrine
The invaders helped us built
And none shed a tear…
None raised a wail…
And none grieved
Because it’s not their lost

They said we wail too much
For the lost was small
A tiny drop in the ocean of blood
That has flooded the land

Our contribution was small…yes, small contribution
Or how else could we justify this ceaseless carnage?
So they took more
More women…more children
More boys…more girls
Some pregnant…some suckling
A sacrifice to make up for the rest

We thought our shrine was big enough
To pacify the gods and save their wrath
But we were wrong
Their white regalia is not red enough
The blood is not deep enough for a swim
But why desire blood as one seeks for water in the desert
Oh sword! When will you rest?

The king is coming
Maybe he will see the mountains of graves
And the waiting dead—candidates for mass burial
Maybe he will say it is enough
And the priest can take the blood
And pour on the altar of the gods
So the living can rest
And the land will know peace
And the sword be no more red
May the gods be pacified
This sacrifice is enough
A reaction to the many killings Fulani Herdsmen in Benue State and the nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government to the situation. And the political pilgrimage that followed afterwards to the site of the mass graves of the victims.
annh Jan 2021
❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅

...damp
feet
make
shallow
graves
in
paths
not
swept
quite
fre­e
of
snow...


❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅❅❅ ❅
‘The past is somewhere we can walk with our memories
Never with our footsteps’
- Mimi Novic, The Silence Between the Sighs
Nickolas J McKee Nov 2020
So sweet the daffodils,
You placed upon my grave.
Thinking of us all timed,
Lost soul to you to save.
Darling, where were you, all,
So close to me of thine.
Floating, flying, the rose,
Away from a birthed vine.
You placed the wrong flowers,
Thinking you cared for me.
Hand sprouting from below,
Grabbed upon you to see.
So sweet the daffodils,
For you & me to share...
Khoisan Sep 2020
Live love hate forgive
while reapers are having tea
the earth is calling
Seranaea Jones Oct 2020
-

it was, for her~

a question, a dare to venture into a
place that few would ever visit
more than once in a lifetime

walled with earth, rock, twists and
turns, shadows that move—
bones that lay still

a smart phone was recovered there,
the woman who left it is somewhere
deep in the lower chambers

it recorded her unapproved descent into
miles of dark passages which multiply,
divide, intersect— mystify

images steady at first, a wonderment
of sheer expansiveness, these arteries
go on forever and ever !

"i need to tell someone !"—
                                               "ohh, no
                                                 signal...
"

a "sotto voce" begins questioning confusion
as her disorientation becomes a
measure of breath

curiosity now relinquishes to a desperation
of sharp huffs as the camera aims about
in quick jolts, straining to see the
next hopeful opening—

the light stops
working.

minutes later she realizes her affiliation
with the underground brethren has
been met with tacit approval.

her phone is eventually abandoned with
all remaining composure, as a new

and permanent member commences
a delirious marathon down
the corridors of
                             home



the recording lasted awhile before
her drowning cries dissolved into
resolution of a sealed fate—

underneath and silent,
amongst thousands

                            of opened mouths...




s jones
© 2020


.
that urban legend (or maybe not) of a camera
found deep in a catacomb somewhere in Paris—

"Seranaea—nized" for your hopeful enjoyment...

(remembering Sasha Rey...)
Serendipity May 2020
I stare at graves
and the autumn leaves
that fall,
as my envy
for decay
consumes me.
Manpreet Gill Apr 2020
Hot winds caused the charming petals to wilt,
Withered leaves slept under the dew quilt,
The sky looked red and fawn,
Rays of sorrow broke the dawn,
Icicles of trust started to melt,
Roses of love resembled a welt,
Cerulean oceans of wisdom turned black,
Light sleepers don’t like the busy track,
Life goes through phases like the moon,
Sky belongs to those who break the cocoon,
Graves have no room for grudges or vengeance,
Have no ill-feelings or hate, but only reverence.
Emma Apr 2020
#3
bodies drop, no pulse
graves with no name inscribed on
downtown festive no more
With 54,938 cases, the state I live in is the state with the 3rd highest corona rate. The downtown of my city, which used to have plenty of events and people roaming the streets, is a ghost-town, something that never happened even when the marathon bombing took place. This virus is terrifying. Everyone, please be safe during these times. (I just made this haiku about 5 minutes ago. I actually meant to make a haiku for haiku day but forgot lol.)
Jenish Apr 2020
Fireworks,
Inside and out,
Happy faces on streets,
Hugging, Kissing, Playing, Dancing,
in glee..
The little monster who jailed us,
who dug graves of loved ones,
The King of rift,
Lay dead.
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