A Nib in the Pond by Niyi Osundare

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We read your lines

opening up the earth

like a book of paths

hear your voice

melting the wax of a thousand seasons

You who throw a nib

in the pond of silence

the ripples in your inkpot

convulse barracks and powerbrothels

overturning plots of plunder

lying on calculating tables like poison bowls

We sing the lines

and hear our voice

read the words

and see ourselves

in the mirror of every letter

Now

though hands are two

we know which wipes the anus

there is a fork in the road

but we know the shorter way home.