Ajise Vincent
before men sat in bars filled
with images of bawdiness,
ingesting tunes of hip-hop
& pints of dusk. we & our
progenitors — men whose bones
reeked of age & rust, would
sit in cycles with the moon
as a solicitor, conversing about
the dwindling dues of testaments
it was then, our village chief,
jaja, told us about the origin of
the gospels & tongues of light.
it was then we knew about the
prophet who vilified the blasphemies
of the papacy with songs
arranged in quatrains. it was
then we knew that not even the rage
of our voodoos or tales of a
messiah on a white horse,
the enchantments against machines
& grace, could thwart the
triumph: the coronation of
civilization by atoms of time
Source: Enigmatic Global Concept
Editor’s note: Originally published on VicAdex.com on 17 September 2016.
Editor’s note: Originally published as part of the 31 Days of Poetry series on VicAdex.com on 17 September 2016.