i unclad the shroud from her face & my eyes falls on her beaming smile. even in death, it remains irrevocable. her face conjures nostalgia & memories i thought i had buried-unearthen .i am in her hands, held like a magnolia plant with frail skin, her fingers fidgeting as though maggots trapped in a garbage bag & her lips trembling like wretched hands on a walking rod. for her, a baby was the kaleidoscope of her dream & as much as she reveled in the iridescence of light reflected in her mirrored eyes, she feared this dream will crumble like a weathering rock from her [ ] eyes. that day, she couldn’t dam the rivers of happiness & sadness incastellated within her body & they crept out as tears through the crevice of her eye. she didn’t want to say goodbye & i had to watch her wrestle the talons of death as it struck deeper into her skin with every second. when death finally took her, I crawled out her cradled hands, went to a river & cried for days.
a boy swallows his loss
moves it through his gut
but finds it hard to digest.
Adesiyan Oluwapelumi,(he/him),TPC XI,is a Nigerian writer. His works are featured/ forthcoming in BRITTLE PAPER, Lumiere Review, CultureCult Press,Kahalari Review & elsewhere.He tweets @ademindpoems.