a gonar
furen raba kyam
dab da fasto
Yana alhinin rashin
Maryam
diyata
na tambaya: ina baba
za shi
na tallabi
fuskarta
sannan
na ji taushin fatar jikinta
tamkar kada
a hannun tsohuwa
sai nishi ke fita
—kunne na saurarar amon
lokacin da ta fito da
malam-bude-littafi
mai launin
faduwar rana
ta sakar masa mara a sararin sama
kamar Zara matar wata na murmushi
da dare
sa’annan ta ce: za ka dawo
da zakara yai carar fari,
ka samu na kasance furen kallo
at the sun
flower field
before the pastor
said dust
to dust, Mary
my daughter
asked: where is daddy
going to
i held her
face in
my hands and
felt the free
water
that is her
flesh
rise & fall—my silence listened
as she brought out
a butterfly the
colour
of sunset and
she passed it to the sky
the way a meteor gives dreams
at night
then she said: you will come back
in the morning to find me a flower-girl
Translated from English into Hausa by Ibrahim Malumfashi