By: Olabisi Bello

“And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
— Elie Wiesel

Beyond the windows of my school bus
empty eyes call out to me
luring me in with their overbearing gaze.
The raging sun boils the skin
peeling onto the broken sidewalk
Crowds gather round to worship their deity,
Their stories brewing in the pot of deceit.
Was the body cast off by the satanic cult members?
Killed for being a demon itself?
The flies refuse to tell.

Beams of light flicker green beside me
And the vehicle starts to vibrate underneath my seat.
Screaming at me from below,
The darkness in his gaping mouth asks me to find the truth.
But I didn’t do that for the last one.
So I won’t do it for you.