The war?
Won.
Our cause,
just.
The dictator?
Two million bloodless holes.
Our alliance?
Shaky.
The river?
Ours.
Our scattered?
Returned.
Babylon?
Distant.
The sea,
unforgiving,
unrepentant.
The horizon,
boundless.
The children,
breathing.
Our martyrs?
Legion.
Our voice,
soft.
Our stick?
Miniscule.
Our father,
crying.
Grandfather,
cheering.
Mother,
whooping.
Grandmother,
dancing.
The old,
planting.
Victory,
ours.
Defeat?
Forgotten.
What is left, but to turn the wheel?
On
21st January 2017, The Gambia’s Dictator, Yahya Jammeh, ultimately agreed to
step down from power after being democratically ousted. His initial refusal
caused an exodus of refugees into neighboring Senegal.
ML Kejera is a Chicago based writer of Gambian origin. His
work has previously been published in Strange Horizons, The Outline, and Cafe
Irreal. He was recently shortlisted for the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
and nominated for the Caine Prize for African Writing, both of which he hopes
to win. He is at work on a collection of short stories about the fictional
nation of The G, for which he is seeking representation.
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