Togo;
the roads are relatively smooth
which means speed.
We hail a taxi
and clamber in
over two chickens
six arguments
and African pop
belting from speakers
held together by Hope.
We race off on F1 slicks,
the sedan not shy of 30 years.
Tippexed on un-upholstered doors;
“use small force”.
I’m sat with suicide on the back seat.
The view through the windshield
is of Lomé under a molten sky
as the edges close in –
mackerel selling housewives
and cloth merchants for brighter times.
It’s then I see it;
the hood is nattering to the grill
a seventh argument
but before I can scream
Africa’s gone!
(The hood too!)
(At one hundred kilometers an hour
blind for two seconds equals
fifty five and a half meters.)
Sixty meters away
a child on a pink bike.
Marcus Slingsby was born in Yorkshire in 1973. During his 20’s and early 30’s he travelled the world; working the first to wander the third. His work has appeared in Amsterdam Quarterly, Jasper’s Folly, The Poetry Lighthouse and Petrichor (forthcoming). He lives in Friesland with his family.
K. Ryan Gregory is a Portland, Ore. based photographer/digital artist. His photography work included landscapes and travel photos. He continues to build, explore and share his digital art.
ELEVENTH HOUR LITERARY 