By Amina Akinola
i’ve watched leaves change colour / seasons / fading into oblivion / life wander across my eyes / like smoke / into unknown destinations
initially / every part of myself had a lingering of yesterday / gushing / into streams of grief
and let me tell you this: death is not the best way to trample on grief / neither is it an opening to everlasting blossoming
so i bury my placenta / like a newborn / in a way the languages of my mother can never resurrect / walking into dawn / to scrub my feet of dirt / i carry a bottle of palm oil / for the gods of my forebears / let them wash the plagues / that my past left behind
i’m only a human / in this world / and the most comforting science is to choose to live / i stand in the wind / let it mop away my tears
i reject all languages of sympathy / sometimes, sorry is not enough / to stitch together / everything that has been perforated / inside
i rise / to catch the stars / in tomorrow’s sky / this new life will fit me / like a crisp wind / on a dry summer afternoon / it will fit into my body / it will / it will
BIO:
Amina Akinola, Frontiers VIII, is a creative writer from Lagos Nigeria. She’s a twenty three years old graduate of community health from the prestigious college of health in Lagos, works at Jalupon Specialist Hospital bode Thomas Surulere. She’s an advocate for mental health and a girl child activist whose aim is to become a medical doctor. Her works are up or forthcoming in The Shallow Tales Review, Kalahari Review, Eremite Poetry, Fiction Niche, Brittle Paper, IceFloe, Ngiga Review, Spillword Magazine, Woven Poetry, Shamsrumi, Lumiere and others. Her poem was shortlisted for the arise Africa Anthology contests 2020.
Twitter: @Akinola51