The boy is sorry for not breaking,
he does not wear the grief of a bad day.
He digs into his name,
pulls out a history of defiance &
promises to remain untouched by a nosy society.
The boy plays with his hair,
teaches it how to walk backwards,
to not answer the call of straightness.
The boy slips a lollipop inside his mouth,
colours tongue with a rainbow's skin.
Boy as a flower decorates his body with thorns,
hugs society so it can express shock in a trail of blood.
The boy belongs in a garden of other boys,
where sunlight holds out its hand,
& everybody testifies to being sun kissed.
Here, fires don't find the motivation to begin,
& while God watches,
one boy's mouth embraces our boy dearly.
SKETCH ART BY MEG SHENOY
ABOUT THE POET
Lagos based Michael Akuchie writes poetry with an exiled mind.
HIs recent works have been published in Praxis Mag Online, African Writer Online, Ngiga Review, AND Kalahari Review. He studies English at the University of Benin, Nigeria.
Lagos based Michael Akuchie writes poetry with an exiled mind.
HIs recent works have been published in Praxis Mag Online, African Writer Online, Ngiga Review, AND Kalahari Review. He studies English at the University of Benin, Nigeria.
