Take me in your arms and release me not,
To fairyland and sugar candy mounts of yonder,
Take my soft palm in yours and forbid me not,
Let all the hallowed beauties gaze in wonder…
“ Rila?” , Tracy knocked on the door. Rita had been going through her morning motions-call it a ritual of reciting a few verses of “Selected Poems by Matsiko Godwin”,
“Yes dear, she answered as she sauntered towards the door, turned the key and handle before letting her friend in. She was yet to take a shower but it was a Saturday so there was no hurry.
She slid the curtain to the left and squinted at the bright rays bouncing off the dressing mirror. Maggie turned to the wall and continued her light steady breathing.
“ Kontango, Kontango, papa kontango..yuwa leegi..yo legi..”, the Askari attempted the chorus of “Go down low by Sheba and Pallaso “ and was unbothered that her syllables were no close to the original in melody or meaning.
For the high notes, her mouth kept open and the singing went on in her head but certainly no sound!
A passerby muttered to herself, “ You sure should keep your day job”, The Askari did not hear, not that she would have understood the sarcasm either; the sharp bristles held together by black rubber near her hand kept a steady swooshing motion as the dust, paper wrappers and water bottles collected toward the hostel entrance.
Mrs. Kaheneso spent half the night tossing and turning in one of the couches. Her reddened eyes drenched a pool of wetness under her head and she rolled and turned in her tears wondering if she would ever cry again.
She would dose off and see a host of campus girls chasing her with sharp nails that would turn into knives that aimed for her heart. She would scream and mean to run but her legs constantly betrayed her and remained transfixed on the ground.
As the girls closed in, they laughed ghastly hyena laughter and she saw bloodthirsty canines overlapping the lower lip all the way to the chin.
In the bedroom, her husband tired and relieved of the previous night’s tension, undressed nonchalantly, lifted the duvet, rolled under it and slept like a baby till sunrise.
#To be continued
$TOH
No comments:
Post a Comment