Your fist pounded my face In shock I stood there Not moving, not screaming The first time it happened You said you beat me because you loved me. You put the blame on me I don’t remember doing wrong Your gambling and drinking Your womanising and flirting Your problems and woes Were all my fault…
Stank with Sweat
The brave face I wear is never washed It stinks with sweat my mother’s and mine She taught me how to put it on to fit my wobbly bones to be the face that you would know My brave face has a smile it lasts for thirty seconds and plays back after a minute It…
Poetra Ama Asantewa Diaka (guest author)
Poetra Ama Asantewa Diaka is as a young and combative Ghanaian artist, living between the African country and the US. She doesn’t want to be boxed into the definition of “poet” or “writer” – she rather describes herself as a “storyteller“, since the term “encompasses all the ways she can tell a story” – as…
Melanin Queen
Her hands by her side Head down Shoulders dropped and eyes fixed on an unknown prize She snails by in fear Fear of pointing fingers and heart breaking laughter Those words like a butcher’s knife swims through her melancholic melanin skin She wonders if Odomankoma (God) painted her in haste She has blood for tears…
The Mirror
I look in the mirror. My reflection I expect to see. But what I see is not my reflection. What I see is truth! An image blurred with pain. The sorrows of the world. The troubles we face. Told as a story by the mirror. The stories. Never spoken. Yet, told in detail. By the…
I Don’t Ever Want To Get Married
– I don’t ever wanna get married. Waking up every morning and seeing mama’s face being painted with high resonant slaps from dad’s palms hurt my soul. He’d wrap his hands around her neck in pursuit to take her life ; heaven knows he beat the hell out of her. – My dad doesn’t eat…
Lip Prayer
Your lips are mine and mine are yours. May my lips forever glorify and honour you. May my lips be truthful to you. May my lips calm your blazing brow and bring healing to your aching muscles. May my lips mop up your tears. May my lips dry the sweat of your toil, from your…
Dear African Woman
Dear African Woman, If I haven’t told you that you are beautiful, you are. If I haven’t told you that your smile is lovely, it is. If I havent told you that your dark skin is more beautiful than the night sky, it is. Dear African Woman. Only you can understand what it means to…
Black List
merge discrete metals to smithereens, blacksmith who ain’t black and don’t smith Black Africa a golden ring with a diamond/ a diamond ring with a golden rim? I am Black not because I am African Black is what I feel an explicit soul speaking lingo a never melting candle lighting deeper character Africa is my…
This Loose Upon My Eyes
This loose upon my eyes Held tight in shape by society’s lies Reduced me to help. Reduced me to help. This loose upon my eyes Which society likes Trying to put these turkeys above me I am weak, I am starved, they might make a Panda of me They like me in this mud He…