The great fighter is no more!
I checked the room,
You were not there
I waited, outside the gate
hoping that, on your way back home,
You would see me but,
I had left before you arrived.
I checked the farm
You were not there
I slept on the soil
That brings a smile into your face
Hoping that, you would show your face but,
You didn’t come.
I went to the river
You were not there
I washed my legs as you usually do
Hoping that, you would talk to me but,
Your voice was inaudible.
I went to the hemp
Outside the house, where we always sit
When you tell a tale
I saw on your seat,
The pigeon that always sits on your shoulder
Hoping to see you afterward but,
You didn’t come.
I said to myself,
The great fighter is no more!
You once told us that,
You’re a lion, and you will always be one
Now you ended up becoming its prey
’Cause when the real lion came around,
It didn’t meet a lion but an antelope.
Imam Sarafadeen is a Nigerian poet and writer with a passion for poetry and other literary genres. His works center on grief, love and nature, and have appeared and are forthcoming in Poetry Soup, Baskadia, Words Rhymes & Rhythm, Sychronized Chaos, Academy of The Heart and Mind, Poetry Planet and elsewhere. Sarafadeen is currently studying the English Language at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria.