Chaos (The Soldier's widow)
The Soldier's Widow
She panics that the sun is gone again
she’s more stressed in the night for
her pains rest in the day time
and rise with the set of the sun
and she mourns till the morning comes
She’s happy that the cocks crow again
she’s long gone out of bed for
her pillow has turned to a stone
and her diary has turned to her daughter
for she had breastfed it with a bucket of tears
She smiles that the mailbox is heavy again
she wants to hear from her partner
and December is just few days from now
and he must be hungry to eat from her pot
as she feels the same
She cries that the mail delivery is wrong again
she’s not the only Mrs. Roberts in the world
and if a Roberts has swallowed a bullet
and the mail insists carrying her home
she’ll then swallow a grenade
She sat with the neighbours even though
She had no seat to welcome their condolence
And the coffees that turn cold
And her tummy that go dry
Made no noise in her ears
She mourns, being a tree without seed
Standing alone in the desert
And only the sun knows
How well it burns her skin and her leaves
Dry up for her branches to nest birds
But she put her trust in the mailbox that went heavy again
And she wants to see his feet climb down the train again
And the pains keep trailing her every thought
But she pressed on to pick from the open box
And didn’t care to close her door when she bounced in with her pains
With the letter in her grasp
She’s figured out a story to send to her great grandmother
That their daughter is finally on a train
So bid her welcome
Even though it’s not yet time
And the cockroaches
And the rats and the poppy
And the ants
And the geckos
And all the birds in the garden
Shall miss her but they should please
Not miss the soup
And the beverages
And the breads and cakes
And all the food in the freezer and those junks in the garbage
And she let the gas hiss from its cylinder
And pulled a match from the box
And went to watch her favorite movie
And cried when Annie was thrown from a five-storey high balcony
And landed in her father’s arms
And she got up haven filled her tummy
With her favorite soup though without her will
And scratched the match against the side of the damp box
But it gave no sign as she stood in front of the stove
And cried why the stove could not auto ignite
She dashed outside angrily and went straight
to the neighbors to have a match box
but the fair-hearted woman gave her the match box
with the company of a letter, a letter from the North
signed by Mr. Roberts and assigned to Mrs. Roberts
and she fell and hit her head
on the tiled floor of the neighbors
and she understood she fell on her neighbor’s floor
but only saw herself in the clinic
with Mr. Roberts her husband
beaming a smile at her and also
on the piece of paper in his firm grip
that had a report that said
she’s a mother of twin,
when it’s nine months
-
Mr. Roberts had narrated to his Mrs.
How a fellow soldier was identified in the field
With his life shot out of him
And Mr. Roberts purported to be the man
Only was headed home for the vacation to meet his Mrs.
© 2018 Ebizimor Boloukie
