Morgue Portraits Poem by Echezonachukwu Nduka

Anomalies are signposts held high and recited
As anthems when values have no definite definitions.
When laws obey their makers alone,
Boundaries are made for the blind.


Obeisance sends forced signs when morning
Counts her loss in thousands.
For this course, all gestures are under scrutiny
And death becomes the perfect cure for all maladies.



Our instincts become primordial warnings
Sighting the sea of tears that flow at funerals
Even before these bodies grow cold and stiff.
In this room where lips and skins kiss unknowingly,
Schedules are rescheduled for heaven and hell's sake.
And all there is to life's struggles, shuffle their feet to oblivion.


This death, like a stage diva, invites folks to tango.
Rocking the microphone and swaying to brass-filled
Highlife, posterity shows its face on obituary posters.
Morticians become instant artiste managers of stars
Whose songs are muted by eternal silence; concert stages grow cold.
Their songs inhale hell's breath and all return to dust.