For three days it has rained intermittently

The stalks have altered their stance into an eternal bow /

and the roads are now mud-colored.

My neighbor’s house now glugs water through an open roof—

the aftereffect of an ardent rainstorm.

 

My dad says God is attempting

to cleanse the earth from darkness

and the rite demands a sweeping force.

The power company borrows that

as a justification for our deprivation of light.

 

I look up and gawk at dark clouds

encroaching the sunless blue sky /

sculpturing dander from an unruffled sky.

 

Last midnight our fence kissed the ground

after meeting with the ceaseless downpour and wind /

the surrounding waters altered our home into an island.

 

So, I clutch my younger sister & say,

We’re in dark times,

prepare for abundant chill & obscurity.

 

_______

Praise Osawaru is a writer and poet of Bini descent. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Blue Marble Review, FERAL, Ghost Heart Literary Journal, Kalahari Review, Serotonin, and elsewhere. He was longlisted for Babishai 2020 Haiku Award and Nigerian Students Poetry Prize 2020. He’s on Instagram/Twitter: @wordsmithpraise

Photo Credit: Photo by Suparerg Suksai from Pexels