kaduna: first day in town
like déjà vu the sense of being here
before pervades the air – the smells, the ways
of human intercourse, the sounds so clear
evoke an almost knowing, as the day’s
pervasive rhythm slows the body down.
the heat becalms, the mind submits, resigned
to languid pace, to allah’s will. this town
familiar in a way obscure; inclined
to bloody acts of faith, to power bought
when not bestowed by birth, to ways corrupt
& lusts immune to censure – much besought –
a timeless orgy few dare interrupt.
kaduna’s bowels thus reveal my past;
those lives of spirit failure hold me fast.
© Joseph McNair; 2009
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