Friday, February 17, 2012

Free Entry 1, Week 5

A revision of an earlier piece, with a new title.

When Father Fling

Ijaw fathers fling their babies
into the Ibadan River,
tubes in their navels,

faces cement-cold.
The ones that swim swim.
Mothers cheer
as their little Phelpses go.
Darwin's underwater show

Takes to the sky.
Yoruba fathers hurl their sons,
after puberty,
across the Atlantic, on
seven-hundred and forty seven fowls.
Everyone cheers,
no one weeps.

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