Slum
In my village, herdsmen wield guns and erase lives
their cattle crush the fields
and the blood in their eyes force farmers into camps,
where they count grief on strands of prayer.
The camp becomes a slum
and we learn to beg under the sun
swapping tales of strength
for chants of survival
In my mother’s village, it happens again—
herders invade, fields burn, and another slum rises.
Transition
(for Verun, Charles Ayede, the Ayede children, TV Agema, P. Aduro, Pius Adesanmi & too many others)
The earth’s hunger is eternal
its stomach swells with our loved ones
in farewell, we make concrete beds
and mound pillows
scribbles show senseless summaries
of names and dates, while bodies rot within
these graves are an encyclopaedia
pages of a nearly forgotten past.
S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema is an editor, cultural advocate and development practitioner. Among other works, he is the author of Memory and the Call of Waters [Winner, Association of Nigerian Authors’ Poetry Prize 2022; Finalist, Nigeria Prize for Literature 2022). Su’eddie convenes and directs the Benue Book and Arts Festival (http://bbaaf.com), an international arts festival domiciled in Nigeria and England. He blogs at http://sueddie.wordpress.com, is @sueddieagema and @sueddieofficial on Instagram.
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