Poem
Aisha Umar
WILD GRIEF
The wilderness of my heart
Runs races of yearnings
Down the road of expectations
On the eve of hopeful disappointment.
The cascade of pain
Erodes my gullible hope
For a dream rewind.
I’m not a friend of grief
for grief is it, that strips me of joy.
The world, adorned in the regalia of grief
Crawls blindly on me
Searching for what never will be
Meaning is meaningless to me
Like a dry river is to fish.
My knowledge fails my knowing
My sight, blurred
Steps failing.
This lonely path I tread unaccompanied,
But for my painful smiles
A stranger you are to my pain
For you reap from the gains of my pain
Leaving in your wake.
The debris of your inequities,
My thorny steps to walk.
A lone friend in majority you were,
You held my hands,
As I throttle through the red sea of life
Then,
You let go your grip
Embarking on an endless journey,
You alone chose to travel
No goodbyes
But the reality of your present absence
All there is left
Are the Debris of your heart
The Echoes of your laughter
The gaiety of your steps
The glow of your smile
The benevolence of your hands
No sired possession
Nor decent siblings
Instead, scavengers of your wealth
Claiming legality to what you hold dear
With professed pain, but gladdened hearts
They scavenge your wealth and world
Paying no attention to the bell of time.
There’s no absolution to this pain
The epiphany of your departure,