….your skin felt from words thrown
at you for being fatherless,
you struggle to find your voice
& blame the dead for leaving you
in an evil part of the world. you mourn…
My father passed at a self-conscious age and I had to move with my aunt and continue my secondary education.
Eventually, I was forced to leave to where I don’t know but I was going.
The poem, “Poem at twenty-one” originally published in Kalahari Review was based on that experience – the loss of a father who was also a mother, the pain it carries when you lack the love that was once bestowed upon you and you were told to become a man.
Poem at Twenty — One by Emmanuel GG Yamba.
After Sonia Sanchez’s “Poem At Thirty”
it all started
the day your dad died
more to that, it happened
during a night in December,
where your body was found in boys
that had nowhere to lay their heads
your skin felt from words thrown
at you for being fatherless,
you struggle to find your voice
& blame the dead for leaving you
in an evil part of the world. you mourn
in silence because it’s wrong to cry
outside at night. home has jumped
out of your body, the only place free is the street.
you still hold it as a dream; your aunty feed
the night with your life — a prey
you only wish the night vanish in the
twilight of an eye. you check the time
it’s 8:00 pm and you ask God to share
the homelessness with you, maybe just
for that night. on the same street a boy
was born already circumcised. you
took it as an answer to prayer & called the
baby Emmanuel
Hannah Omokafe Dennis Is A 24-year-old Journalist, Voice-Over artist and UNFPA Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Advocate Living In Nigeria. She Currently Serves As A Community Manager In Konya Shamsrumi AndHas Some Of Her Written Works Published On Writer's Space Africa and audio stories on Genti media. She Enjoys Using Words And Her Voice To Tell Stories. She Tweets @Omokafe_forite.
Latest posts by Hannah Omokafe Dennis (see all)
- Stories From Young African Poets: Career Choice And Erhimesioja. - December 4, 2024
- On The Subject Of Love In Contemporary Poetry: The Significance Of Abdullahi And Kambai’s A Cult Of Fireflies. - November 28, 2024
- Stories From Young African Poet: The curiosity Of Salim Sani And Poetry. - November 19, 2024
