Street boy wants my phone

street boy streetwise
surveys the streets,
reads the floating figures
for the smell of
the newcomer, the unwary, the showy…
scans each bag each pocket
for the idle dollar & the sleeping phone

a significant walk, a knowing look
& a monkey follows a monkey that follows the nuts

feeling a power has left me
i panic
& through a borrowed dial
seek the presence of painful absence


“farewell,” sings my phone
“farewell,” sings my phone
“farewell,” sings my phone
in its captivity…

and walks away with a signifying monkey!

--- Obododimma Oha