Precedents

Ismael Bala

We plunged into the depth hoping to find
The trinkets we lost in times past—the companionships
Abandoned; the vows broken; the love betrayed—
Only to tarnish ourselves with much agony and
Setback.

For what we thought we would discover and tend
Became grits in our eyes, pricking us
On every side, burdening us with great pain
And asking reparation beyond reclamation.

With depleted hope and coagulated dreams,
We remember the precedents of pirate wars caused by
Years ignited by animus, years of cruel courage
And psychological bondage to the caprices of our desire;
Years we cannot bury, but must
Painfully pay for.

And while we exact comfort and confidence from
Our present pose, we turn back,
Still hoping to find some trinkets.

Ismail Bala writes in English and Hausa. His poetry and translations have appeared in the UK, the USA, Canada, India and South Africa, in journals such as Poetry Review, Ambit, New Coin, Okike, A Review of International English Literature and Aura Literary Arts Review. Born and educated to university level in Kano, he did his post-graduate studies at Oxford. Line of Sight (2020) is his first collection. He is a Fellow of the International Writing Programme of the University of Iowa.