Close To Nothing Poem by Padmore Enyonam Agbemabiese

not too long ago
I met a man who claimed to have
visited the shrine in my village

then I met another man who not only
claimed to have visited
the shrine in my village
but also to have made love
in the shrine in my village —he showed me
photographs of the Altar I adore
and sang me songs no one was supposed to hear
than me

so there was this man
who visited the shrine in my village and
that man who made love in the shrine in my village
and sang me songs no one was supposed to hear
than me

and since I lost the cowries in the diviner’s bag
I didn't know who to believe
except one thing that I do know:
my guess is that maybe
none knew neither my village nor the shrine

or if they knew it at all
every tale has a tail longer than that of the antelope