Sincere

By I Echo

“haunting fevers strangers shared in the hulls,
never to break after centuries on land”
— Ishion Hutchinson, ‘His Idylls at Happy Grove’

Happiness makes a clearing for me
to walk through the morning light

with healing. A greyed conscience.
The dotted dress. The stained mouth, its heavy breath.

I am far from the crime. But, I am still of the crime.
In that life where I paid for the woman to fill me

& she would not. So, I spent everything else I had
To create a fire she would one day return to.

The burning house, how everything surrendered
to its clearing. The heart smoked into darkness.

It is easy to forget everyone & everything dissolves
When touched by darkness. & it wasn’t until I began

to ask questions of the quiet walls did I crack
A hole—a leaking vein that questioned my existence.

How light turns a hammering fever for every darkness.

How many lives had to be seasoned into suffering
in our decision to make a portal out of a wound?

The war caught because of an ‘I love you.’

Every one of us, an entryway
Into some desert storm of forgiveness.

We wear the shame on our uniforms whilst some call
It the sacrifice for our innocence. The bleeding cross.

Note:
The 1st line is riffed away from A.R. Ammon’s Salute.

BIO:
I Echo is the pen name of Ghanaian-Nigerian writer Chris Baah who writes predominantly from Accra, Ghana. His works mostly revolve around masculinity, love, and connections. Dreaming of exploring the world, new cultures and new conversations, he hopes he can save the world by saving himself. He’s on X as @AyeEcho