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TOLULOPE OGUNLESI
LORENZO AND MARIA
Love, Lagos and Havana were the three ends
Of the rope that bound Lorenzo and Maria.
Of course
They weren't always Lorenzo and Maria
Maybe Lamidi and Mojisola, growing somewhere
In Isale Eko, thinking of whom to fall in love with
And when, and how many seeds to spawn.
Then War rose
Waves of war, stout as wailing walls
Sweeping the conquered across the Great Sea
That entombed tall tales of adventurous pilgrims.
So they went, as we go.
But mercy shined and loosed their bonds
Instead of an eternal flaming iron brand
Or a second-skin slithering steel necklace
They got a milder label: Emancipado.
So the story goes. But chains still had their part
In the Plot. Cupid comes-a-calling, hawking
Nooses - the kind a Texas cowboy will love
They haggle and fall for the deal.
Then the denouement. Home calls, first
In tiny whispers, then in that din so peculiar
To Lagos. Bags and memories are packed
Names too, and offspring, for they were
Not ashamed to count themselves strangers
In the land, seeking a true homeland.
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