GEOFF BOTTOMS applauds a version set amid the violent conflicts of the 19th century west African Oyo empire before the intervention of British colonialism
England, the Old People’s Home
My mother walks cold corridors, lost
underneath a mask. Bends to do her dirty work,
Picking up white people’s shit.
Not a metaphor, how she feels about this land,
but a turd left on the floor, her duty done with care
as another wreck of bones squats
to release his thoughts about the influx —
Why are there so many blacks?
The mask stops her from howling in response.
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