{"id":203,"date":"2022-08-01T16:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T16:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/?p=203"},"modified":"2024-02-22T02:34:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T02:34:22","slug":"demystifying-the-science-behind-boys-in-my-country-evaporating-into-mist-at-every-shutter-click","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/demystifying-the-science-behind-boys-in-my-country-evaporating-into-mist-at-every-shutter-click\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying the Science Behind Boys in My Country Evaporating into Mist at Every Shutter Click."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

t<\/strong>here is no mystery here, every language<\/p>\n\n\n\n

spoken by the gun is a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the verbs motioning their molecules<\/p>\n\n\n\n

are too aggressive, pulling sultrily from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the wormhole of their kinetics,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the communion of fire to fold boys<\/p>\n\n\n\n

out of blue into a chalice of mist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

every shutter click could sound like a gunshot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

vinegar & salt sprinkled on their<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mothers’ plants of prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the equilibrium of disappearance too<\/p>\n\n\n\n

is an unbalanced thing, like a pendulum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the damp patch of the boys’ wetness is from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God’s tears, & the cloud, a smoke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from God’s cigar. the wind scythes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

my hearing, & everything sounds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

like the agony birthed by too<\/p>\n\n\n\n

much blood. on disappearance,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

boys in my country are meant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to hoard an inferno like Abraham,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

still & unmoved & not burnt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to expel the salt in their wounds,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

& their gritted teeth without<\/p>\n\n\n\n

motioning a syllable from their mouths<\/p>\n\n\n\n

too loud. but grief is a damned thing\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it shapeshifts fragments of the boys<\/p>\n\n\n\n

who conceal their anguish too much\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it turns into something intangible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to compel a boy subdued by anguish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

into erupting his toothless mouth with a hearty<\/p>\n\n\n\n

smile that sticks\u2014is like voweling<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a mannequin to a dance floor. But of course,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

happiness can be an emissary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to anyone’s empire if an edict dawns<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it into your living. But some type<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of fire eats the cauldron & its content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdulkareem Abdulkareem<\/strong>, Frontier III, is a Nigerian writer and Linguist. He is a fellow of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship, 2022. His works appear\/forthcoming on POETRY, West Trade Review, Off Topic Publishing, Aster Lit, Poetry Column-NND, The Shore Poetry, Afro Literary Magazine, Brittle Paper, Rulerless Magazine, Better Than Starbucks, Feral Poetry, Claw and Blossom & elsewhere. He won the University of Ilorin SU Writers Competition (Poetry Category) 2022 & the SprinNG Writing Fellowship Poetry Contest. He is also on the shortlist for the top entries of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize, 2021 & Briggite Poirson Poetry Contest, 2022. He reads poetry for Frontier Poetry & Agbow\u00f3 Magazine. He tweets @panini500bc Instagram @panini_500bc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

there is no mystery here, every language spoken by the gun is a disaster. the verbs motioning their molecules are too aggressive, pulling sultrily from the wormhole of their kinetics, the communion of fire to fold boys out of blue into a chalice of mist. every shutter click could sound like a gunshot. vinegar & […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","ph_site_tiers_settings":[[{"Price":"1.00","Tier_name":"Voyager","Tier_id":"prod_PbejBstAbzGx6D","Selected":true,"Tier_status":"publish"},{"Price":"2.00","Tier_name":"Pioneer","Tier_id":"prod_Pbekxd4dT46vIU","Selected":true,"Tier_status":"publish"},{"Price":"5.00","Tier_name":"Cosmonaut","Tier_id":"prod_PbenhwsNUd6XSB","Selected":true,"Tier_status":"publish"}]],"_ph_post_tiers":["prod_PbejBstAbzGx6D","prod_Pbekxd4dT46vIU","prod_PbenhwsNUd6XSB"],"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[85,86,18],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abdulkareem","tag-nigeria","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions\/384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/on.patronhunt.com\/orionsbeltmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}