I came with two boxes
one for dreams, one for sweaters.
The rain was heavier than home,
and the buses always late when I needed them most.
The distance from Peckham to Kent felt like
crossing continents again.
My shoes learned patience on those long platforms,
my heart learned silence in those cold lectures.
They said, “You’ll adjust,”
but nobody said how long it takes
for the accent to stop echoing in your head,
for your name to stop being a mouthful in class.
Still, I carried Lagos in my laughter
and Nigeria in the rhythm of my breath.
Reynold Mezue Mark is a Nigerian poet and creative writer based in the United Kingdom.