after Franny Choi
by the time the apocalypse began, my country was burning behind my back.
my friends & I were speeding on a highway. the music in the car was so loud
we did not hear God calling us by names we’d forgotten our parents gave us.
before the apocalypse, everyone knew Moh’ as Muhammad & AJ as Abduljalal;
Shukuu as Shukrah & Bakari as Abubakar. before the apocalypse, our tongues did
not know to trim Fatima into Teema or to say Mubi when we meant to say Mubarak.
by the time the apocalypse began, we were falling in love with cartoon characters
from Disney; crying when any of them died in an accident that wasn’t an accident.
by the time the apocalypse began, our lives were accidents. before the apocalypse began,
i was googling pictures of UFOs as captured by NASA. by the time the apocalypse began,
i’d convinced my friends i was an alien on a brief visit to planet earth where everything
burned; especially places where faithful believers named the houses of God. by the time
the apocalypse began‚ i wondered if God was now homeless & if I could invite Him
over for dinner sometime. before the apocalypse began, my people worshipped gods
molded out of clay. wept when their prayers fermented in their mouths, unanswered.
by the time the apocalypse began, i was convinced God lived everywhere.
Abu Bakr Sadiq
Abu Bakr Sadiq is a Nigerian poet. His work appears or is forthcoming in Uncanny Magazine, Augur Magazine, FIYAH Literary Magazine, Zone 3 Press Magazine, The Lit Quarterly, Rockvale Review, and elsewhere. He writes from Minna. Find him on Twitter @bakronline.
Photo by Fredrik Solli Wandem on Unsplash