African Sight - Poem #67

Women of dignity with regal deportment
wrapped in cloth of pulsating hues
heads and bodies
clashing geometric

senses scream as splashes of color
emerge from smoky haze
billboards peeling in the heat
congratulating the President on his birthday

Women delousing wide eyed children
men squatting  along the road
watching the slow groan of traffic
fingering prayer beads

In the market tables sag
under the weight of muddy fish
dead sea rays, piles of snapper
shoes crunching dried fish scales

Halal butchered beef and goat
hang from rusty hooks
a severed cow’s head
abuzz with feeding flies

as the old and young blind
are lead through the marketplace
sightless teens grasp each other’s shirt
daring to cross the dusty road.

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