Plans for compound with subterranean maze
for people (dogs, pigs, goats, human, lizards,
aligators)
life on the compound is lean and great suffering has taken place there
historically, although under my host’s governance more kindness is
taking place.
the gaters were saved from a squashed lunchbox existence in a market.
they are rarely seen and hide in their grotto, sometimes coming up
out of the water to blow bubbles or snatch birds.
the heat is terrible.
Kola a Staffy/Welsh Terrier pants all day, no amount of water can quench her,
we know she is not well because she cannot get in and out of the car like usual.
in the morning there is black fluid on the kitchen floor and she hides underneath my chair.
in the afternoon her puppy is out before its time and me and Kola are crying.
purple pool on the veranda, she licked it twice and ran away.
for the next three nights she stands on her garden sand dune and howls into the dark.
lost pup. heartbroken.
Kola
Kola Bear
Kola Nut
Kola kola
Iron ore is huge here. the texture of stones is meaningful. it is what draws in all the money, but the money dosent stay, it comes in and out just like that, you’d hardly notice.
people take long jouneys for the precious mineral, voyagers.
jouneys through the desert and the forrest
negotiations with Jinn and ancestors
can I dig here?
no.
Kola dreams of Genie bears and boiled chicken with rice.
Anthracotheriidae:
sometimes Mama Thinka thinks of pigmey hippos and how they chose only to live in West Africa.sometimes Mama Thinka thinks of Ceiba pentandra, Kapok tree, Cotton tree. central to Freetown.
somestimes Mama Thinka thinks of freedom.