Enemies of Progress

By Oyindamola Shoola

For two years, you’ve huffed and puffed.
Yesterday, you did a negativity diet;
today, your cure is a sunbath.
Tomorrow, it will be a gummy bear
the Kardashians share,
and next week, it will be a slimming tea
promoted by an Instagram herbalist.

Even your madness knows no God
and your salvation is on a diet.
When the usher served communion,
you asked for sugar-free wine
and gluten-free bread,
but on your way home
bought Iya Basira’s beans and fried yam.

Bimpe, if we talk now, you’ll call us Haturzs
and say, I am supporting small businesses.

Previously published in Face Me I Face You (Winner of the Kermit Moyer Prize for Craft in Lyrical Writing)

BIO:

Oyindamola Shoola is an award-winning writer, the Co-founder & CEO of Sprinng, a nonprofit empowering African writers, and the Editor & Programs Director at Poetry Journal, discovering widely relatable ‘African stories’ from ordinary individual experiences. You can connect with her on Instagram @OyindamolaShoola, where she shares gossip about characters and occasional rants about her experiences. www.shoolaoyin.com