“The Funeral of Grief” by Salim Yakubu Akko is a searchlight for wellness and stability or its remnants in a chaotic nation. The poet’s simple language is beautifully embroidered with poetic expressions.

Kwaghkule, Jacob – Contributing Editor (Poetry) 

The Funeral of Grief

i want to disown my body. reshuffle my teeth & name myself not a man that neighbors the hellfire(s). or that lives under the canopy of silent grief.

stranger, i don’t want to hear anything home, again. this is not irony. now, a home is a hyperbole for pain.

i went searching. for a place where plants are green. for a place where the anatomy of pain’s never seen. for a place where miscreants don’t hold guns. for a place, of fear, none ever, runs. for a place, i could call my home. but, now, i am tired. of listening to my men singing in pain. sisters fetching dirty water &… raped. here, i want to burn, rebirth this home, again. these walls, that always break. these walls, that always fall. on our boys. on our girls. on any head they see. you see, we built them. with our fingers. with our eyes. and, it’s time. we can scrape their paints. bury their sands. off memories. it’s time. the line between our accents. between the colours of our bodies. between our hearts. is buried. grief does not know who is black. who is blue. or which is brown. it’s disaster. it eats all. it’s time we thought. we buried their cruelty. off memories. it’s time.

Contributor’s Bio

Salim Yakubu Akko is a writer from Gombe state, Nigeria. He has been published/forthcoming on Brittle Paper, Poemify Magazine, World Voices Magazine, Carolina Muse and Arts Magazine, and so forth. Akko is a member of Gombe Jewel Writers Association, Creative Club Gombe State University, and Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation.  He is on Twitter @AkkoSalim and Instagram @Calculussalim.

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