hero worship by bash amuneni (day 30 of ksr 31 days of poetry)

on a lonely tarmac with running cracks spread-out
like stretch marks on black bodies
my brother and i make long trips on this road to our farm

our skin, thin as sheath, separating the living and under-world
bordered by thick wild lands set as hairs on our heads
breathing with old stories of crash sites, ghost ponds, and bush babies

i will follow these cracks with my eyes each morning
wondering where broken roads lead

today, brother weaves tales of armories
swallowed up in the heart of the underworld
he tells me of a desolate fuel farm
at the end of a tarmac that turns into a curious curve
and softens into dark, his black skin glistening to his wild fable

he lies at dinner; how if he held my hand and ate my food
it will spread into my stomach like compassion
but what is not to love about brother’s lies

what is not to love when brother dunks
full-bodied into a well near the hanger
beyond sight to rescue our guga
and fetch another round of compassion

he tells me, this time, of the legend of a fighter pilot
who, while strapped unto a MIG-21 jet
only takes to sky drunk
my brother says hero pulls his jet right through
the under-belly of river Benue bridge behind mother’s compound
by the stubborn breath of a hangover
he called him the drunken brave

it is bed-time, i am telling brother about Hauwa
how i want to trace the soft lines of her stretch marks
and see where they lead
dunk this black body into a well
and fetch her a continent of compassion
how i am drunk and i want her to eat, but only from my touch

i tell brother i want to be brave too

Bash’ Amuneni is a Nigerian poet and performer whose works explores humanity’s capacity for love. He is the author of the poetry collection There is a Lunatic in Every Town, a TEDx speaker and member of the Abuja Literary Society. An ardent believer in poetry’s capacity to generate necessary conversations, Bash has performed at the Lagos International Poetry Festival, the European Union Human Rights Commission, the African Parliamentary Union, African Development Bank, USAID, and the Kaduna Book and Arts Festival amongst others.