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Temple Ezebuike
Nov 2 · 1 min read

For Leah Sharibu

You smelled the smoke and burnt stones rumbling in kanuri,
You heard Allāhu akbar and flays of unrest — 
The Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad — 
You shouted mama! An earth scratching in your stomach

You watched them collect you and Falmata from underneath the table, bunched with other girls into a giant truck
Allāhu akbar wasn’t what you knew in Dapchi, you heard he was good fortress
You also knew your saviour from Nazareth

The camera resized to when the militia shot into the sky, and drove through the clumps in Dapchi

One night, you saw Faltama and Fatsuma and Hajara released, plodding into the dusk
Your tears wet the mud, your prayer shawl weary from the day’s struggle

You wouldn't follow Faltama, Hajara, and Fatsuma, unless you kicked your Bible into the dwarf shrubs

Mama’s tears were baked in the hot sun when the vehicle brought the returnees home
She frisked through a bunch of people as the day sifted into the night

Leah .... Leah …. Leah ….and her voice sank into drawn curtains

Leah, slender, yonder ... the gap still gapes,
Penetrating the night that swallowed laughter

The government is like pedals on a wheelchair,
She would only drink wine and open her crotch to piss on us
Big state doesn’t declare big dick

You were stronger than the devil,

and we are birds flying away

    Temple Ezebuike

    Written by

    Lawyer. Writer.