ROSELINE MGBODICHINMA
PHASES
And so this poem begins in my mother’s plot. A square space of sparseness & seeds. When the holy book said we’d all return to dust, It didn’t tell us how much moist we required not to be crushed into powder / & as I separate the wheat from tares, I learn how humanity is synonymous to hades / How the pigment in my skin meant my existence is warning signal & the whiskers on my sisters face meant my mother defied the purity her ‘chi’ expected & laid underneath a torso from the west / I want to continue this poem without saying we might all wither into space or burn like grass but my brain cell is shaped like the seedling in my biology textbook – so I ask my mother,
Where do I come from? Why are my bones as hard as rocks /My eyes shaped like pebbles / my ears halo like the entrance of a cave / my mouth an estuary & my limbs made like the branch of a tree? This poem will end with a cursory stare from my mother / she will say – this colour is grace / this birthmark is art & this face a mirrored replica of your ancestry / she will ask me if breath has colour, tribe or creed as I burn the tares to ash.
Roseline Mgbodichinma is a Nigerian writer, poet and blogger who is 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, Indianapolis review, the hellebore and elsewhere. Roseline Mgbodichinma is a Nigerian writer, poet and blogger who is passionate about documenting women’s stories. You can reach her on her blog at www.mgbodichi.com where she writes about art, issues and lifestyle.