Midnight Elopement
By Alfred Nyagaka Nyamwange
Take my hand, and let us venture out
To walk the paths, that are shrouded in doubt
Through the lanes that darken with the night,
And pass by scenes that fill us with fright.
We’ll tread upon the rodent’s hidden tracks,
Through spooky crevices, and muddy ruts that crack
Ooze trenches and dump sites, we’ll pass them all,
And wet shrubbery that clings to us like a shawl.
We’ll breathe in the scents of fire and sweat,
And hear the animals cry, a sound we won’t forget.
Flutter of bats and baying of dogs,
And pungent smell of rotten carcass clogs.
We’ll pass by human mounds that lie,
And hear the lone drunk’s mournful sigh.
We’ll hear a fearful woman’s cry,
And a hungry infant’s helpless sigh.
We’ll walk past the tired trucks that climb the hills,
And the headlamps of an engine that drowns and spills.
We’ll see night prowlers dash, and hear windy moans,
Cluttering metal and swaying shadows, we’ll not be alone.
Flashes of patrol police, and clank of chains,
We’ll hear them all, as we walk these lanes.
Come, let’s leap across pools, and keep moving on,
We are serious travel mates, until the break of dawn.
We’ll crawl, stumble and fall along the way,
Until the day breaks, and light takes over the fray.
Then we’ll look back and say with a grin,
That we’ve done it, we’ve survived, and that’s the win.
