The last time a storm brewed around this area,
It started in my heart.
The trees danced and swayed and shook
Like tall monsters howling
Baskets, buckets, clothes wiggled in the air
Like a tornado
Everything running around
Mothers ran out, wrappers tied to their chests
Chasing after them
Calling the names of their children
For another life
Where they could possibly catch
All they had let go of.
I think of this now
With a certain stillness
With the wind and the dust
With the darkened sky
As they move into shape of
things I do not recognise.
It makes me think suddenly of our lives
In the way that they are,
In the way that they come
In the way that they dance
In the way that they sing
Through many voices
The voices of wind
The voices of water running out of a tap.
The voices of children
The voices of women, in their rooms
Mourning for things we are not permitted to know
I think of all these now
With a certain stillness
With the certain anticipation of rain.

Star Zahra is a Nigerian poet, arts journalist and textile designer. She has been a poetry editor for Guesthouse Magazine (Iowa, USA) and is a columnist for Konya Shamsrumi Press. Star judged the Andrew Nok Poetry Prize in 2022 and is also the author of Girls and the Silhouette of Form. Her works have been published in Brittle Paper, Isele Magazine, Red Poets, Writers Space Africa, Kalahari Review, Shallow Tales Review and Daily Trust (Nigeria).