The Origin of Silence

By Ajise Vincent

& when you speak to the vicar
who composed the hymn sung at the lord’s supper,
he will tell you about the emperor
who burnt dreams to light up his garden.
          death illuming the present
as the moon shed tears of luminance

he will tell you of the epistles
   of thirsty graves,
how the earth convulsed in haiti
& drank gore to cure its malady.

he will tell you of psalms from the swirls of water,
 dirges of anonymous immigrants floating
on the loins of  the mediterranean 

he will tell you of the exodus of palestinians,
 explosions taking refuge in the homes of mothers
           whose eulogies to their dead sons
are exclamations too short to pass through their throat

he will tell you of the origin of silence:
the princes of sahel finding comfort
in the emptiness of coffins

Biography
Ajise Vincent is an Economist based in Lagos, Nigeria. His works have appeared in Jalada, Chiron Review, Asian Signature, Ann Arbor Review, Yellow Chair Review, Bombay Review, Birmingham Arts Journal, The Cadaverine, Saraba, Brittle Paper, Sentinel Quarterly, Ake Review and Elsewhere. He is a recipient of the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize 2015 and the Akuko Poetry Prize 2021. He loves coffee, blondes, and turtles.