Retelling a Troubadour’s Story

I traversed…

Through the North of Nigeria

Rushing through the forests that hid caves and great hills

Watching the clouds and the sun sail with the fading day

Evening took the cakes and made it sour

And the bananas riped on the baking sun

But the wind was lively, blowing fine dust and

Gathering soot from the burning bushes far away

At some points we engaged the Fulani and their cattle,

They march with their livestock through the thickets

Cockroaching through the dark floor of thickly greened forests

Waterfalls, bridges, the sound of pebbles hitting the water

And birds flying in echelon above the fast moving bus

Ushered us into Abuja… Nigeria’s center of unity

Abuja was welcoming, she told me a lot of stories

Ones I may never forget in a hurry!

***

Bridges brought land over the water

And we rode quickly through this land

Benue seemed dull, her tributaries glowing

In the strange heat, in the great sun shine

Now I found two goats fighting savagely

Somewhere near the city of Lokoja

Their horns locked, with no intent of separation

Granting deep wounds upon each other,

Drops of blood, a struggle near a river

While another goat drank peacefully from the water