Silence Poem by Onuora ilodibe

There she sat disheveled
Right Beside his sick bed
A wet cloth over his head
A pail totally half filled
With tears and salty water
Candle slow burn by the corner
Yellow silk flame lit the ward
Rancid stench hover the air
Beyond pale a dead squid

A ponytail sky subtly clear
Outside walls frigidly dry
Ghastly calm and darker
The streets deserted
A distant owl toot a hooter
Far from the woods resonated
A Hound chasing cadaver
Footsteps pummeling
The dead coves
Rivers recedes at confluence
Deliriously lost in dream land
His temperature bespoke hi-fever

Gnashing and writhing
A convulsive child
Smoldering as cinder
Lips path with silver ware
To hinder seizure
Muttering her dialect
She pray for this derelict child
In the words of our saviour
Inadvertently crescendo increased
Gathered congregation
Summon a priest
As chants and prayers unanswered
Deafening silence broke eardrums
Discarded fear as sights
See clearly danger inherent
Gold rush like water off a ducks back
A flash in charred pan
Untamed faces with rage and anger
Actions of brains poisoned by lead
Left thousands poor infants dead