Atonements

By Aliyu Umar Muhammad

The poem can start with him walking backwards into a room
He takes off his jacket and sits down for the rest of his life
— Warsan Shire

Little thing,
I know how death
grows in you.
I know how life springs
you back from
the chimney of vermilion.
Of million miles
walking to a foot door—
memories teaching
you how to bait; the hook
of your linen-grief
patterned like scattered
stars all around
the palms of a grey sky.
Water shifting into
prayer opens your body
like the welcoming
of darkness after light.
Red seasons groping
in the tender hands of
memory so filled with shore.

BIO:
Aliyu Umar Muhammad is a buddy poet from Minna, Niger state. He is the Secretary, MAAR Hill Top Creative Arts Foundation Minna. Aliyu’s works can be found in Kalahari review, World Voices Magazine, Ghudsavar Magazine, The Carried Away Journal, D’lit Review, Raven Cage Zine, Channels Magazine and elsewhere. Instagram: @Aliyuumar8816.