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E Eremugo : Night Crawlers
The night was quiet
And the moon peeping
Behind the clouds
Like a delinquent child.
As gentle winds blow
They came crawling
Over the walls
Like rats in the rafters
Looking for left over foods,
Swarming from all directions.
Asleep was the family
Oblivious of the night wonderers
Stoking the house
And bidding their time.
Bang the door came down
The children started crying
As a bad dream turns to reality
And the women wailing their hearts out
As the strangers filled the room
Huge men with huge guns
Used as clubs
To clobber the men
Gruff voices filled the air
As the night erupted with activity
Up they pulled the men
Lined them outside
Flashed lights in their eyes
Turning them half blind
As they ransack the place
Looking for what
Only heaven knows
And no one can guess
But when the law comes to visit
Only sorrow remains
And the men were taken
Never to be seen again
No questions asked
No tombstones left.
Who do you blame
Who do you ask about
Their whereabouts
And what will you tell the children
About their father?
He was taken at midnight
And never came back
Tell them he was a hero
And must be remembered.
The city remains a quiet observer
Recording silently events
That unfolds at night
Bidding her time
When generals would fall.
As they melted into the darkness
Which had spawned them
Wanton destruction lay behind
A shameful testimony
To events of the night.
Neighbours crawled deeply
Under the thick blankets
Nobody wanted to be a witness
To such nightly incursions
Feigning deafness
Although they heard it all
Each person waiting his turn
For maybe tomorrow
They will knock at his door
So why the hurry
Let everyone stew
In his own stove
Jumping the line
May land you
Into the hottest part
As the night gave way to light
And birds began to chip
Butterflies appear
And cicadas fell silent
Neighbours piled out
Of their dingy shacks
Like frogs from a drying pond
Sniffing slowly the air
For the crawlers might be lurking
Around the bush track.
