Were I to Choose by Gabrial Okara

When Adam broke the stone
And red streams raged down to
Gather in the womb,
And angel calmed the storm,

And I, the breath mewed
In Cain, unblinking gaze
At the world without
From the brink of an age.

That draws from the groping lips
A breast – muted cry.
To thread the years.
(O were I to choose)

And now the close of one
And thirsty turns, the world
Of bones is Babel, and
The different tongues within
Are flames the head
Continually burning.

And O of this dark halo
Were the tired head free.
And when the harmattan
Of days has parched the throat
And skin, and sucked the fever
Of the head away,

Then the massive dark
Descends and flesh and bone
Are razed, and (O were I to choose) I’d
Cheat the worms
And silence seek in stone.

- Gabrial Okara