Malcolm Fabiyi

 

Warriors for a God of Peace

 

In Belfast,

Anguished wails, and an

Exultant cry pierce the silence

Smoke from the cindered

Bus wafts sideways

A rejected sacrifice

Two crosses peek at me: one,

From behind a pile of smoldering flesh

The other from a rosary

In the bomber’s palm

 

In Baghdad,

The Piper murmured a prayer,

Facing Eastwards as he pressed

On the doorbell to Paradise

Terrestrial stars blinked, and

A beast roared, loudly

At dawn, the mourners were

Turned towards the rising sun

Wetting the path of their loved ones

With many tears

 

In Kaduna*

A dagger nestles in a Bible

And a pistol keeps warm in a Koran

Outside, in the chill-dry Harmattan

Zealots gather and prepare to do battle

On behalf of a God

Whose name is Peace

Their prayer was this:

“Let heaven’s gate open

When we arrive drenched in blood

Just like the door stands ajar

For a servant drenched in sweat”

 

Elsewhere,

Star spangled crescents pierce the sky

And a portly Bhudda lies headless

On a trampled Sikh turban

 

 * Kaduna - City in Northern Nigeria

 

 

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