|
| |
Runner
b a n g b a n g!
I couldn't believe I just fired some shots
there she laid...
belly up
counting the dust
dead as loneliness buried in silence
trouble b o l d l y stared straight at me
my stomach growled, loosened a knot~
sweat welled up between strands of hair on my arms that
s
t
o
o
d like soldiers ready to m a r c h
along the d r I v e...
but rather my feet walked on egg shells
ee-oo-ee-oo ee-oo-ee-oo!
some black and whites driven by men in blue and black~
their badges conspicuous even for the blinds to see...
drove into my compound
with the sirens on them swirling with lights
casting dark and glow on the well-paved lawn
how could they think a shadow in the dark could be arrested?
Just before the poke nosers knocked on my door
I made a clean pair of heels
and before the batting of an eyelid, I was at the next street~
where I had parked my car....
it was a lucky slip through their fingers
three days later
California welcomed me~
ready to be s w a l l o w e d by the next earthquake
and to stay like a shadow in its darkness
safe from the glare of the cops
and remain like an eye under its lid~
a comfort Louisiana scared me from...
only for Los Angeles to provide me a shell to share with the tortoise~
not just in California but where California was given a prénom of Baja~
where not even an immigration officer would try to arrest a shadow
rather the Aztecs left their city for me
and the a Nahuan left me his shelter
three months were all my sanity enjoyed
before her ghost returned
she started by asking questions
loads of questions that b u r s t e d my brain wide open~
its splashed white matter turned my early twenties black hair gray
then she draped the seas of my shadows
in veils of darkness left in the torture of s l e e p l e s s n e s s...
then her skeleton took pleasure in mocking me~
made me r u n like a bat out of hell
with a chill cold blood r u n n i n g in my veins
who do I now run from?
the cops that my case has gone cold on
or her ghost that's making my blood cold?
but why her torments?
have all the lost angels escaped from Los Angeles into Los Mochis?
She scared sleep from my eyes
now h a u n t s my sleeplessness
like a thunderstorm brewing on the horizon...
but for how l o n g
can I outrun her ghost
when it's as quick as a blink?
Copyright ©
Maclawrence Famuyiwa
|
|