The Rainmaker by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

12 lines/216 words
Issue 3 (Fall/Winter 2023)

It is raining blood again/what have you done this time, Gowa?/who have you struck in drunken rage or righteous vengeance?/which head has your unbreakable sword sent rolling?/I can feel your unquenchable rage in this bloodstorm/your voice in my ear, begging me to come with you/before the shadowlands claimed and maimed you, I was yours and you were mine/now you are the rainmaker, cursed by the gods and despised by men/do you still think about me?/when you drink water from cups that used to be skulls, do you remember how we drank palmwine deep into the night until we fell into each other's arms in exhaustion?/when your fists hit the faces of the men you are cursed to fight forever, do you remember your hands on my body?/I loved you as a raging storm with no outlet/now I love you as a sore absence with no relief/perhaps, someday the gods will forgive you for striking down one of them & you will return home to me/but what will you be then? man or beast? god or demon?/whatever you are, I will always be your anchor/I will always be here, the last scribe in this desolate city, writing my poems & songs of longing.

Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe is writer of the dark and fantastical, a poet, and a reluctant mathematician. He has poetry and fiction published or forthcoming from F&SF, Podcastle, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lightspeed, Anathema Spec, FANTASY and elsewhere. When he’s not writing about malfunctioning robots or crazed gods, he can be found doing whatever people do on Twitter at @OluwaSigma. He writes from a room with broken windowpanes in Lagos, Nigeria.
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