Tuesday, February 23, 2010

What the River Brings You




What the River Brings You

By the time the river reaches you it will bring tidings
Fragments of me along with the richening alluvial
Of other dreams leached as if by some subtle sieve
From the quarters of my cusp, my land, my pride

You swim within the tufted turbans of emirs, amidst the stretched
Arms of Igala fertility cults; when you drink, each drop holds a tang
Of tears of rocks forced to fall on native men at the foot of tin mines.
Everything the river brings you is a cosmic concentric dream – like love

Stranger I may be, I rest my arms on you and say the sacred words;
For my soul is rooted here – for the river precedes me.




© 2010 Richard Ali


1 comment:

Mosuro Publishers said...

Nice poem. Keep up the good work!