“Forgotten” by Ahmed Shayo

where do you go when you need to wander?

sometimes I just need to go.
To move through my chaos on roads that lead to
quieter heartbeats
and gentler winds.

You see
I am losing.
I can feel it in my bones.
In the way blood comes and leaves the heart.
Time reaps,
yards and yards of lifetimes now decay back into the earth,
the fruits of nostalgia are now beyond the allure of tasting,
a rot has set into the land
and everything is turning back to dust.

There used to be roads here.
My grandfather’s father had made one,
cleft from earth and roots deeper than memory.
His wife’s house still stands by the murram path,
but now the grandchildren could no longer
re-tell the reason it was here,
let alone recall the sound of her laughter.
Time reaped,
and now the only sign of the road is her lonely house,
a skeleton of love and duty that shelters only spiders and ghosts.
Some time ago the children and women would gather to break bread here,
but only the rising sun comes to pay visits these days.

I am losing time.
If seconds were water
then my mother would surely beat me
because of how much I have spilt on the ground,
my clumsiness forsaking better tomorrows
and soiling the graves of my great grandparents.

And so I just wander,
walking back passed pasts I have lived
to what I must have been taught
but have clearly forgotten

Ahmed Shayo is a 27-year-old Kenyan, currently residing in Kampala and working as a freelance software developer. His love for writing drew him into poetry, and for more than a decade now he has remained loyal to the craft. He is a monger of kindness, love, worship and service to family and those who are in need. His dedication to the art is evident in his signature style of using imagery, and you can find more of his posts on social media. He is a son, a brother, a Muslim and strives to be a good father and husband in future.