mecca road/
but this road do not lead to salv+tion
i am only one of my kind
something must hold my hands
to keep me from falling
college of medical sciences/
course mates are not friends
so when your lecturer asks you
“where is your friend?”
say to him
“the lady that sat next to you
in Algebra class yesterday is
behind you today sir”
go ahead and show him where she
will sit on wednesday
who she will sit with in second year
who she will walk in with third year
course mates are not friends Sir
mecca road/
but this road do not lead to salv+tion
this road will not swallow your fears
i came here alone
i must walk alone
i am only one of my kind
department of sonography/
you don’t want to say that
to anybody
so hide your embarrassment
behind a smile or wrap it around a
hug
it is how they will ask you
it will teach you how to answer them
sono-tree/
here you are shaded
tree of life
independence hall/
four women in one room
what do we say to each other?
what do we say behind each other?
we are not free after all
paajoe/
there are demons you have to fight against
the name of Jesus is echoed in my ears
high tones
low tones
in songs
in tongues
a hand is laid on a man
oil is dripping in his face
tonight the holyspirit must live in his body
he will not speak his mother’s language
there are demons you have to fight against
a lecturer
a crush
a roomate
empty pocket
family members
administration/
long queue
payment slips
scattered in halves
signed documents
next semester i will be here again
today i wish my father was rich
there will be no point coming here
long queue
payment slip
s c a t t e r e d into hal-ves
gross Anatomy/
dead bodies
very dead bodies
displayed on tables like meat
i touch them
but I can’t touch their lives
it is funny
humans are dolls
me/
long skirts
long dresses
black skin
bag of insecurities
shoes of not good enough
framed on my forehead
third class school
me/
but nobody truly knows me
i only live in your judgements
and have a room in your expectations
and sleep on your conscience
you/
know me?
know why i
dream?
know why I write the things I write?
know why I expose my vulnerability?
know why I push?
eight-hour-shift
three-traffic-stops
know why i wake
up in the middle of the night to think?
know why for a long time
i didn’t say a lot
but
now
i
do?
i
am?
know why i cry?
know why i laugh?
know why i give details?
know why i want to be heard?
you/
are wrong
you don’t know me
you never did
this is not a poem
this is an X-ray of my body
with lateral and coronal views
not of broken bones
but some moments of
broken hopes and dreams
this is an X-ray of my body
not revealing torn ligaments
and tendons but injuries from
words that cut deep into my soul
From the past
why won’t you look at it?
because you are scared
but i have died and resurrected
this road is salv+tion