Troubling Things
by Lukpata Lomba Joseph
A beast has twirled out of the murk,
farting smog into the naked sky.
The air is heavy with hearts
leaping off bodies as a bald owl
takes to flight across water bodies,
leaving dust on every street.
A man runs into the street to meet
a lover and returns with fire
in his throat. And somewhere in the news,
a colleen runs into the bush
to feed on dragon-flies because a lover
coughs too loud.
How else do we write of a time
when a priest whispers to a crucifix
and a man retires to a room to wear
the dress of a monk?
Somewhere, at the end of his voice, a beast
peeps to take down people’s address.
And beyond the yard, a family sits
to learn how to walk the streets with buckled
mouth and stitched lips!
—
Lukpata Lomba Joseph lives in Nigeria. His poems have appeared in Jacar Press’ One, Poetry North Ireland’s FourXFour Journal, Squawk Back Journal, and many others.