After the death of an uncle, I swallowed pain

Like a pill. The sun treads his body into 

Paradise and today I hang on the cliff of these 

Words like the question my Dad once

Asked hangs unanswered over my head. 

Each day is a gravedigger lulling the

Earth to sleep. Once I set an alarm to 

and it fails, only mother’s voice wakes me,

Greeting me  “guroke”

Tonight, my voice is losing its echoes. 

I took my pen to write but my muse becomes

The voice of my uncle whispering death—

Expanding on my heart with the golding light of 

Survival. 

The sadness hasn’t yet morphed into joy.  

Night comes with fear of demise.

I become a vigilante bribing sleep. 

Feigning acquaintances to every void

Dear uncle;

This heart still feels your presence. 

Your love, your tenderness, your slow 

Rhythmic breath as you sleep. 

I still think of you when the first ray of 

Sunlight spills like a waterfall.

AHMED AMINU  is a budding poet, member of  the-plobite, literary and arts enthusiast from Kwara state, Nigeria. He is obsessed with books and those who write them,  If he is not  reading, he is definitely writing or watching Manchester United football (FC). His poems have been published or forthcoming in synchronized chaos, pine cone review, Ariel chart, and elsewhere.