Sacrament

So God slapped the dawning sky with belts of thunder and lightning.

Ten leagues away from the cloudburst that aroused petrichor, a nameless man comes out of his lounge downtown to watch the sun rise from the heavenly curtains that just hosted the rain and stars.

'Give us this day, our daily bread, Dear Lord!...', he utters softly.

There's a picture of a prominent couple in one hand and a clock in the other. He pockets them both and strolls westwards.
News came in at dusk.
Some children had been orphaned by a berserkly defiant act of fate.

...Everybody prays.

by Dr Pat Ashinze

Pat Ashinze, an Igbo-Yoruba hybrid, trained and graduated as a medical doctor from the College of Medicine, University of Ilorin. He writes within the axial stream of poetry, prose, essays, aphorisms, gizmos and whatnot. His works have been featured on several local and international platforms. He was a finalist for the 2021 Stephen A. Dibiase International poetry prize. He was a finalist for the World NTDS Storytelling (Literary category) competition in 2021. He was a recipient of the Best Writers Award at The ILUMSA’s 40th anniversary in 2018. He won the Inaugural Unilorin Students Union Poetry Prize in 2019.