Kayode Afolabi’s most recent poem to appear here was “Mr. Duke’s Good Morning” (December 2017).

Two Worlds
(for I. Christabel)
By Kayode Afolabi

strewn skulls and spines litter the refuge
of refuse where blood-sucking rats have gathered

together this morning they heard the alarm ring
they sing “there’s enough blood and food for us”

the boss declares the ceremony open as the leader
he calls dibs on the liver others feast without worry

there’s no hurry there’s no scurry there’s no haste
another case will soon come running in

mourning continues this morning in the other world
word has gone round about the man who’s gone

the sun is getting hot yet not as hot as the man
and the virus has travelled faster than the news has

behind bars the mosquito still laments of injustice
his pleas if heard could save the hero of patient zero

ho ho ho ho! back in the other world the victors laugh
the laugh that heralds the break in of a new outbreak