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Do not take these ones from me
This time, I’m ready to shave my skin into a Kangaroo’s own
Who buries her children in between her laps.
Not because I’m a feeble mother who can’t strap a child, but
one who likes to separate these ones from the shafts.
They are rivers that run through my back, and the scars that forms burnt
contours on my navel.
They are the ones whose hands run through my hair for a comb,
and the ones whose voice I’d rather hear when I’m being levelled
down the ground.
Olodumare must have heard my cry till this umpteenth time when
I craved for them. But now I choose to sift these ones from the
ones he took from me.
Do not blame me if I hold them tight. You can call me a mother
who drank fire all alone. Smoke darkens the face of a mother
who hustled children like food & cowries.
Do not blame me again when i kill a hawk for a chick.
Of everything you should know about me
A body knows how to spell God when the moon brothers the stars
at night.
A boy tries to kill a feeling as a result of his shivering hands
searching for his lost love.
This time, my mind is drunk to shelter any fairy tales or memories
from childhood.
Here in my body is a city floating in darkness that knows no
god of light.
Of everything you should know about me, I’m one who kills the sun
on my face, and buries its light on my father’s back.
A teen like me in love tries to spit love lines in a dark room
with hands creeping where my mother did not stamp.
Of everything you should know about me, there is a house inside
of me that knows no music, love or anything you name it.
The street tries to fathom people like me, but i only know how
to paint myself into a poem as i just did
Glossary
Olodumare — the name of God in Yoruba dialect, Nigeria.
About the Author
Emmanuel Ojeikhodion is a young Nigerian poet who uses poetry as a tool to set dreams free. He studies English and Literature at University of Benin, Southern Nigeria. When he is not writing, he is thinking of what to write next and enjoys meeting new poets. His work appears on ; Praxis magazine online, Pangolin review, Peeking Cat poetry magazine and forthcoming in Kalahari review and Deracine magazine. He is on Twitter as @hermynuel
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