SPRING

SPRING

Late summer loaded its vehicle

Of awful drought in extended tentacles

Its attendant pains were its escorts

Reluctantly-dragged its long awaited

Heavy farewell bade – most disgusted

Mine – farewell, swift and light

It somnambulated that to a curse

Grey field tailgated – followed its course

As my mind pushed them all away

To the west, spring vortex sailed

Like in herd, like in flock, behind one another trailed

A full moon floated due East

It was last confident moon

That would quench and quell soon

Behind a heavy sky of rain cloud

Though lingered but o eess disappeared -

The unwilling late summer, not well feared

Completely all fronting and tailgating

Then a breeze blew hurriedly and banana leaves

Frenzied wildly, like enchanted life – heaved

As dust weird and whirled in all cardinals

The wind gathered cloud-lets

Along, in its combat-like swept

Inferior moon queued behind

Like fangs of broom cooperated

In a bounce; resilient and dominated

Super rain cloud overpowered the sky

Rain cloud dominance won

Ejected thunderstorm as if in a war

With warring rebel, unleashed

Its dominance in deep darkness

As children quivered at its thunderstormingness

Engulfed bravery in an aged man

Suddenly sky water coagulated, heavier

Denser than the weary air

Then sank down into the womb of virgin soil

The two viable gametes: virgin soil and rain

Fused into living zygote; meiotic reigned

And green grew on grey

The green flew in eye-flight

Butterflies waggled from flower to flower

Condensed were they on hibiscus bright

Early we rose at the wake of dawn

To a hurry home return before the dusk

To beat rain to a good number of time

And all the dust that trailed

The tail of trailer had been tamed

But pothole water splattered aside

She wouldn’t let go her dented gown

White gown marred pothole water brown

Doled out curse in unmeasured sizes

The humid air whirled

Whirled and wheeled; rolled like rim

And merged the cloud, made the rain

Momentum the windstorm gathered

Ruffled her dented gown further

And laid bar her ebony pair

She fumbled with her dented flowing gown

While quietly measuring and sizing down

The curse at her mind, to dose out

The shoes were not dusty, rather

Murky, not minding her busty either

All her statements – altered

The sun lewd lazily behind

The sparse dark cloud, hide

Tropospheric air misty and humid

We had wrestled some hours

From the rain that would soon shower

Rushed home to beat the dusk

So so we spent each spring day

After the rain the stars were borne

The sky-like grit washed off, diamond lured

As moon made effort at some looming

In echelon egrets had earlier returned

Last batches of bats flew pass in turns

Neighbourhood noise rose to the ceding of rain

Children, women in village would rise in race

By the dawn to pick the snails

That cast off cysts for the rain

Soaked-rotten the filthy things;

Dropped off under mango and cherry trees

Mixed, blended and fed the soil

Cold seeped through all guards

Terrorized every room including gourds

And we sought repose in layered style

In the city, the price would rise and fall

Yam flour – up; okro – dawn; limestone – stall

As traders come and go; sell or store

I made myself beckoned and beheld

For one point or two to portend

The rain chased me here and there

And soaked away the pen and paper I held.

Adesokan Saheed Ademola

Department of Chemistry,

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso