"Phone Call at Dusk" by Isaac Oluyi

(Dedicated to my late mother, Alice Oluwafunmilayo Adunni Oluyi)

It was an ominous dusk

I found myself in a web of discombobulation

As I could not fathom what was amiss

The impregnable dusk birthed a disturbing dawn

Everything I touched was in a mess

I withdrew into my cocoon

Hoping the maze could be obliterated from my mind

The harder I tried, the more obfuscated I became

I took solace in round leather game confabulation

To at least travel on the wings of god of soccer

But the trip was truncated by Graham Bell

As a phone call of shock and devastation came in

Announcing the inevitable end of the road for the vehicle I boarded here

Entangling me further in a web of higgledy-piggledy

Leaving me speechless and shocked to the bone marrow

Oh Death, you have plucked my incisors!

The Morning After

I waited endlessly for the dawn to break

With my mind agitated with an array of thoughts

Wondering and wandering around in the dead of the night

The waiting was synonymous to a 9-month wait

At last the much-awaited dawn arrived

I hurriedly set out to ascertain the veracity of the previous night’s call

Silently supplicating that it would turn out a mirage

But alas the inevitable quiet end had truly happened!

Her lifeless body lay immovable on the mat

With mourners pouring encomiums on her

Remembering her good deeds with fond memories

As she was being lowered into underground mansion

Tears rolled down my cheeks and I wept uncontrollably

But I eventually solaced in her living for the happiness of others.