Through my window, there is a view— a dying tree, an oil plant, and a vast canvas of darkness beyond.
An owl hoots and stares from a withering branch, I stretch out and glimpse a fat moon beaming over a patch, refusing to illuminate a dark world.
I see a vision— leagues of fallen angels assembled at plants, as felled rigs crash on the back of the bald eagle, whose wings are ravaged by the giant panda of the East;
A mother rummages through a refuse dump in the frantic hope of a meal for her dying son. In the ashes of that child, a million miseries grow on capitalist crap.
Somewhere, a dog barks, a gun rings, one final yelp and an army of nearby frogs enjoin in a chorus, alternating notes like a dirge.
A stench slaps me in the face, and I shut my window blinds, safe from everything but demons who pull me ceaselessly from within.
S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema
S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema is a husband and father, multiple-award-winning writer, cultural activist, and development consultant. He is the author of three poetry collections, including Memory and the Call of Waters (Shortlist, NLNG The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2022); Home Equals Holes: Tale of an Exile (Winner, Association of Nigerian Authors Prize for Poetry 2014; Nominee, Soyinka Prize for African Literature 2018); Bring our casket home: Tales one shouldn’t tell (Nominee, ANA Prize for Poetry 2013); a short story collection, The Bottom of another Tale (Shortlist, Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Prose 2014 and Abubakar Gimba Prize for Short Stories 2015) and a children’s book, Once Upon a Village Tale (Shortlist, ANA Prize for Children’s Literature 2018).
Su’eddie was listed among Nigerian Writers Award’s 100 Most Influential Nigerian Writers Under 40 (2017 & 2018) and EGC’s Top 50 Contemporary Poets Who Rocked Nigeria (2012-2017). He was previously the Black History Month/Project Curator and co-founder/president, African Writers, at the University of Sussex, where he earned an MA with distinction in International Education and Development as a Chevening Scholar. He was also a Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (Benue State Chapter) and Council Member of the Association of Nigerian Authors National Teen Authorship Scheme.
Su’eddie blogs at http://sueddie.wordpress.com and http://sevhagereviews. wordpress.com @sueddieagema on Twitter. He lives in a couple of places internationally with his wife, daughter, and members of their clan.
Photo by Vladimir Fedotov on Unsplash