The Year She Lived. Poem by Nancy Ilamwenya

364 days ago, a lady catches the wrong bus in a new city; Addis Ababa,
Destination clear means oblivious.
Blissful in her ignorance, she gets lost in the monarchical monuments,
Captivating commemorations of Ethiopian ancient civilizations,
Intrigued and bemused by the strange tongue of the beautiful people.

15 minutes later, last stop.
Only then does she realize. She looks around and catches site of a gentleman.
Cursory glance, cursory instructions, cursory small talk, and she was on her way to the right destination.
He didn’t linger…not his big brown eyes, not his sonorous voice, a typical transitory moment.

1 week, a casual call, the setting of what was to be a modern day Shakespearian tragedy is set.
Starring an apathetic foreign girl and a romantic local boy.
The ethereal moment at the bus station crystallizes, slowly melting the nonchalance of the unbeliever.
She blushed at his brown eyes, she trusted his sonorous voice.
The certainty of their bond was unquestionable.

331 days later, realism clears the eyes of romance.
The coalitions of their two cultures fail, a vivid juxtaposition.
His big brown eyes begin to judge her, his sonorous voice stings her soul every time.
And for the umpteenth time, she hears her heart cry out, ” not again, no more stitches”
She gets perplexed, groping in the dark for her security; apathy
The blanket she lost for a chance of romance.
She doesn’t think she could kiss anymore frogs; all the princes must have turned.

364 days later, a rose bleeds,
Red warm blood stamps a seal on their story.
1 day is left to the end of her life.
None of them is a believer anymore.