The World Was Silent When We Died

Nosakhare Collins

The sea is bloody & deadly silent

How many times have you seen a photo

Of boys at fifty, becoming joyful to stare at;

Stinky patches with bullets and sticky stains:

When we stared at it on our secret box.

Imagine how the world would look like

If a boy is paralyzed like a broken needle,

And dump in the gutter to rot;

Or find him dead by mysterious weather.

You need not imagine the photo you see

Of a boy laid dead by lethal weapons;

Sprawled on the scarlet bed of a free life,

And holding hands with the sound of silence.

Their skins can turn senescent thoughts

fading away like a floating sea;

Show you how to nail sadness into a wanderer’s wall,

Just to forget the photo and remember a boy who wanted to turn war at peace.

But remember the naked children laughing

as if there were men,

Who shall turn this naked photo of dead bodies,

And grow to remove the rotten leaves of dust.

FIRST PUBLISHED IN BEST “NEW “AFRICAN POET 2018 ANTHOLOGY