After Post Massacre Psyche Evaluation by Abu Bakr Sadiq Nobody asked me what it took them to slice me open? There is a scarf I hold unto When the crucifixion starts I let blood & water mix like wine And when they ask me who tried to kill me Or where the weapons are I will show them your tongue Tell them your closed mouth is the sheath And your smile, another kind of crimson Or don’t you remember? The mockery on that November morning, How my tight dress became a circus As you danced around me in blasphemies Saying there is no room for a belly as big as mine in a dress as colourful as that Sometimes shaming is as potent as a bullet & one shot is all it takes Do you know death has a fashion sense? It is a garment of morphed wishes, The one that wears itself on me when my lover says We cannot make love with candles Because my body is not shaped like an hourglass Not all kinds of death lock you in a grave, some of it leaves you roaming in the world? I don't know what it means to have a deathless body Because every day, a part of me dies intestate My mother is afraid another man will shoot me for living in this body. I, too, am afraid to exist So l launch a police report I am writing my statement & the policeman says I should show him evidence of attempted murder, I start to undress & show him my love handles I tell him this is where the conspiracy began I tell him my extra skin is their ammunition & my cellulite, their shotgun But he does not believe I tell him to file a restraining order against the world Because I do not know to which extent this body will grow But he does not understand So I dress myself And I say, Look! Look! Look! It all started from the size of my stomach Now I am wanted everywhere
Roseline Mgbodichinma is a Nigerian writer, poet, and blogger passionate about documenting women's stories. She is currently pursuing a law degree and actively freelancing. Her work has been published on Isele, Native Skin, Down River Road, Amplify, JFA human rights mag, Blue Marble Review, Kalahari Review, Indianapolis Review, the hellebore, and elsewhere. You can reach her on her blog at mgbodichi.com, where she writes about art, issues, and lifestyle.
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This poem is economised and straight to the point yet it conveys the loudest and deepest issues a person would use a million words for. Such a beautiful work Roseline.
wow.