Wi-Fi in a Museum

I claim the debris, I claim the smoke
there is no need to burden the bin
with what is left of our past
the ruins will someday have second-hand value
broken plates
stained with tomato pastes or blood in a dishwasher
someday, our shoes will find a home in a dustier box
with thousands of other relics      label in runes
men will pay to come feast their eyes on what survived
these brown days
say                               the laundry in the machines are too wet
to burn
the flower patterns are itself stories of bats
gowned in a night sky
say                               the museum is never too old to be loved
never in need of a rebirth
say                               rebirth is fennel growing in the eyes of our children
begging for a tent       just for the night
say                               I will not let go the rings                    that remind me of home.

Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian writer and environmentalist. His poems are featured or forthcoming in Vinyl, Yemassee, Puerto del Sol, Prairie Schooner and elsewhere. He is a finalist for the Hyacinth Girl Press 2017 chapbook contest.