Photo: Richsoft / Shutterstock.com
—a nocturne
The clouds move quietly like monks,
& a lance of light pierces through them
like stick through suya. Everything is cold
even the insides of my mouth. I
celebrate the moss & mosquitoes,
each with a separate duty. The rain
has softened my heart in its basin.
Ambushed by awe in this little town,
the music of thanksgiving has overtaken
my ears. Instead of waiting for a miracle
that will never come, I’ll magnify
the ordinary: dragonflies, lizards, pigeons.
Look at them decree a thing
I am unable to pronounce.
Pamilerin Jacob is a poet & editor whose poems have appeared in The Rumpus, Agbowó, Palette Poetry, 20.35 Africa, Rattle, & elsewhere. He is the curator of Poetry Column-NND, a poetry column in Nigerian NewsDirect, a national newspaper.
Twitter: @pamilerinjacob
(Previously published in Konya Shamsrumi)