CHRISTMAS LIFE

I am on the dusty roads that lead to homes swollen with people, crawling kids.

hanging is the lingering past of a worn year.

the month is fading and the rooms are lightened.

With the bells of a coming dance, crashing drums

for a glorious celebration.

The morning air is the calling of the sea, chilly with promises.

The leaves shake in epileptic fever.

The trees billow in surrender, in a burst of light and rare dance.

In the afternoon, the sun studies our skin.

On the walls are the cards that spread wings of greetings, wishes of love, warmth, songs.

The children in light steps as their soprano that fills the air.

Their colourful clothes grace the skies and the mothers with glistening eyes.

In the wake of the morning, the couples declare vows in the cathedral that stands forever.

Stoic and mysterious.

And people nod, smile.

A fowl is slaughtered where it always is- in the middle of somewhere.

And the red patches graces the sands.

We don’t remember its whimpering or shaking, its throat that falls and limps.

it is the eve and the family gather to stare at the news.

To drift to the stale Christmas songs that have lost its meaning with time.

With seasons.

It is the day, the day of the lord, the day a baby was born in a manger.

And we drown with drinks.

After the prayers of the slow priest.

The day we watch the fires go up the sky with the eyes of people that may never understand.

Next year repeat, we were made for this

 

 

 

Deborah Nwanguma is a lawyer, professional writer and an avid poet.  As a Partner with Flourish Consult, a firm engaged in providing writing services such as researching, editing and content creating, she is carving a niche for herself as a Creative writer.  Having worked with the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Plateau State, she is passionate about human rights and gender activism.

She publishes weekly on her blog, Time and Muse. She has been featured on Word Are Work, a creative writing blog. She was shortlisted for the African writers’ award 2018 and was top 10 in the Bridgette Poison Poetry competition 2015.

She currently works in Abia State as a practicing Lawyer. When she is not writing or fighting for justice, you can find her playing the keyboard leisurely or listening to Switchfoot.