If grief was written in chapters.

Chapter 3

His mother’s breast slipped out of his mouth Now, he can only drink milk gotten from a cow

He eats beans when he wants cookies

His mama knows the best

Chapter 17

His first heartbreak has happened

hot air comes of his nostrils

his lungs are constricting

He is learning how to till the soil

Every door he opens

closes before he could enter.

Chapter 75

There is a volcanic eruption in his heart

he saw his father get killed

he stood aloof and watched in terror

and confusion

Why is the world after his happiness?

CHAPTER 106

He is now a girl

lost her womb in an abortion process.

Every night in her dreams

a mountain of diapers swallows her

she dreams herself a boy

the first lips she kissed tasted like cherry

and later lemon.

Chapter 220

Her husband smells like his secretary

Her stillness fuels the bond.

there is a mighty Iroko tree in her heart

with six children cutting it down

with a penknife.

Every day she buried herself in gold

and her tears washed her remains up.

Chapter 388

She is now a table

her brother a chicken

it’s harmattan

and Christmas is here

The wood will make a fire

to keep them warm

then, they will have chicken for dinner.

The first time they experienced happiness

it was on the faces of their murders.

Chapter 700

He is an old man without an heir

He feeds the world and clothes the poor

but no one was there to close his grave.

Vultures feast on his remains

a generous man even in death.

Chapter 888

On the flip side

An old woman

The witch

her eyes cause misfortune

A mother of rogues and prostitutes

Stoned and roasted for flies.

Chapter one

The pain has no known address

grapples anything it can reach

it is without form

the end is not death.