Dark Night

Photo by Susan E Adams.

Dark Light

On a night when my soul was damp
I found in the street a dark lamp.
The moon was cold and green,
The sky had a sinister sheen.

I lit the lamp and stumbled about.
I’d not gone far when I heard a shout.
And then I saw a nasty sprite
Emerging from the lamp’s dusty light.

‘It’s not every night that I’m brought awake,
And now I’m going to make the world shake.’
This nasty sprite led me on
To a dark place beyond the sun,
Where evil ghouls and tyrants played
And danced in that infernal shade.

As long as that strange lamp was lit
There was no hope for me.
And in that darkness there were only
Nasty things to see.

And all because my soul was damp
And lit the light of a dark lamp.

Ben Okri’s new collection Wild will be published by Rider Books in April 2012.