this street was once peaceful,
birds on the branch of the citrus tree
at the backyard of each house.
every night, the moon sings its light into the earth,
watching the children circle around the black pot
of the woman selling akara at the crossroad.
& the breeze makes the night linger
than the memory of a first kiss.
and when morning arrives, every man
cuts his prayer according to his god.
but today, the gods have turned deaf ears to our pleas.
the empty classrooms are a testament:
like the gods, the ting of the rusted iron bell
hung to a shea butter tree has gone silent.
all that the classrooms echo are children wailing,
mothers screeching; cracked heart
in a shivering body that is no longer mine,
the way i pretend i’m not among the dead
or the city ravaged by the dead:
this street, lying in wait for the hunger of guns,
Down Quarters Street, once peaceful,
now sings songs of casualties:
smokes from burnt cars.
my mother will close the day with rainbows on her lips
if she sees me walk back into my body:
only the living understand the ugliness of war.

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Sarah Adeyemo, SWAN IX, is a poet, writer, and spoken word artiste inspired by solitude and experiences. She is the author of The Shape of Silence, a micro chapbook. For the love of poetry, she founded Inkspires Kreation, a platform dedicated to celebrating the beauty of poetry through Poetversation and Sunset Sonata Series. Sarah has work published or forthcoming in Okiti Literary, Synchronized Chaos Magazine, Pepper Coast Magazine, The Weeds Review, Akpata Magazine, The Shallow Tales Review, The Muse Journal, The Weganda Review, Everscribe Magazine, Afrillhill Press and elsewhere. Her work was shortlisted for the 2025 Labari Prize for Poetry. She is the Features Editor of CỌ́NSCÌÒ Magazine.