WHISPERS

They say hurricanes begin in Africa

Have you ever heard the sigh of bones

Lining the ocean floor?

Listen carefully

And you'll come to know

That soft green sound

Like elephant grass whispering

Day after day those whispers

Warp minds in the East

Keep iron-fisted rulers

Deaf to their people's pleas

And each year

Those whispers become a deafening roar

Pent up fury of souls undead

Rejecting the whip

Breaking the chains

Seeking justice once more

Their anger pushes West

And when they are done

Lashing

They return East

To whisper some more

They say hurricanes begin in Africa.

--Omololá Ijeoma Ògúnyemí