So when you see the eyes of the wind roar
under the manes of a furious darkness,
know that I, Abiku, have come again.

I am the leathery meat
for the boastful swallows of the bald earth.
I am bony;
I choke.
I am the ceaseless regurgitation,
a death not dying…

Tell awele
to gather strength for her eyes,
for she shall soon and again dig my soot
into a thousand catacombs and a repetition.

Tell her
for the dance of strength,
i shall return like a sudden soon, formidable
like tip-toeing lashes of lightening
on the wet backs of the cloud.

Let all dirges be ripped of tongues
and the cups whose bellies hold sadness abort,
for when I sneak into the phantom calls of my kindred,
I shall spare no-one who spoils my plays with septic tears.

Unstoppable,
I shall wrestle like time.
I am time.
I am Abiku,
a thousand feet in a foot.

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Ezeokoye Vanessa Onyinye is a final year student of Anambra State University. She studies English there. She believes so much in literature as well as in making so much out of so little. She is a young and vibrant poet and writer.