A Poem by D.M. Aderibigbe

AT THE BEACH

The rambunctious water is rising like a cat's hackles,
It charges towards us like a lion does to an antelope.
   
I'm with a mannequin, our legs are being buried alive,
By the water-logged beach,
As minutes are brutally murdered by the day.

The water runs towards us,

She holds me tightly, begs me not to desert her if
The water attempts to abduct her.

The water runs towards us,

People scamper to safer areas with their histories stamped
On the soft soil, trailing them
I'm scared, but can't tell her to let us
Run, I'm valiant, I'm a liar.                                

The water runs towards us,
         
I pray against the upcoming water, My prayer clouts the water's adrenaline,

It becomes calm, cleanse our legs with its spillage,    

And withdraws back to where It comes from.
       
"Yeah, the water just washed away my sin." She says
"Of course, but it'll come back with your sins, if we didn't leave here." I reply.  

We go away before the water returns back
To us.  


D.M. Aderibigbe is a 23-year old writer from Lagos, Nigeria, an undergraduate student of History and Strategic Studies of the University of Lagos. He writes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, plays and lyrics. His work has been published or forthcoming in the UK, Canada, Australia, Nepal and the United States by, Vox Poetica, Pressboard press, UP Literature, HUSMW Press, The New Black Magazine, Misfits' Miscellany, Thickjam, Ditch Poetry, Bluepepper and The Applicant. His debut novel Sisyphean, will be published in America, soon. He lives and schools in Lagos.