Eyes At Half-Mast
“Professor Okong stared on the tabletop with lowered eyes; like eyes at half- mast.” ~ Anthills of the Savannah, Chinua Achebe With his weary rising the purpose has almost been completed Eyes at half-mast and salt and pepper strands bear witness and testify to the being that will soon seep from a clay vessel soon pass into the void of the night Milky eyes have begun to reflect a shroud that no one else sees the stomach subserviently takes the shape of a swollen gourd and all the while the soul has been planted roots as sturdy as ripened cassava and heaves with the yellow fruit of twenty thousand fervent prayers from the last third of darkness Later this library will decompose and leave the sweet fragrance of a strange memory and an even stranger heart Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu is a poet and writer based in London. She is author of the chapbook “All The Birds Were Invited To A Feast In The Sky” and has been featured in the publication The Drinking Gourd.