Papa's message
(Biafra, what to call life)

papa's silence came in an envelope,
reading it is starting another war.

"dear son,
songs are waters
so throw yourself in one
to enjoy a flowing music of life
or silence of dearth.

son,
dirges flow beneath bridges made of bones
which washes our son's skulls and pours its juice
in the belly of another thirsty boy beside fire
who has tasted his mother's steamed flesh,
who has enjoyed appetizers of mourns
from her sister's breasts.

Nkem has now left hope
in the flames of her father's soul,
who now finds a home in a vortex of cries
which holds us in cobwebs of forgotten rooms
in our mouth where flies find another home.

so when coming,
forget your dreams under your feet,
forget life in the casket consuming this city
maybe there might be a man struggling to hold its lips,
never mind how we built this castle of ashes
held by bones of your beloved friend,
forget the misery of breaths walking into
a moon carrying the corpse of stars.

forget your hunger for my whereabout
in the vapour of your mother's shrunk body,
in it,
you're sure of a chilled juice
brewed with the blood of your lover,
so never forget you're a juice to a another man too.

i'm proud your flesh can now kill fire
while you become the smoke in her hands,
therefore, I anticipate your body in the soul of sands,
where small children stir their intestines in stinks
which expose secrets of hunger in your uncle's tommy.

however,raising your head after reading this,
you will find your body in a gun
shooting your sister,
please call it life".

I raised up my head...

©Mesioye Johnson

Mesioye Johnson is a final year student of Banking and Finance, Federal Polytechnic ,Ilaro,Ogun state who is popularly known as Affable. Mesioye is a published Nigerian poet, who won the April Edition of Briggite Poirson Poetry Contest 2016 and was shortlisted in other 3 editions, he was in the top 10 shortlist of the Tony Fernandez Poetry Contest 2014, and also a co-winner of WRR Green Author Prize 2016, he writes from Ibadan,Oyo state.