Sleeping & waking all these years
in the larva of butterflies,
Papa, i’ve grown tastebuds on my feet.
i unbuckle my sandals, to let my feet
taste of this soil, your longing for home
— something sweeter than the nectar
of this hibiscus in full bloom.
a bed too far for birdsong to bestir you
Orogun— here you were laid
a bed too far for birdsong to bestir you
for morning prayers.
i’ve come, standing
with a chestful of songs
djembe in my heart, throbbing
where your fellow dead can hear,
their forms beckoned out the cavity of trees
for a farewell dance.
here i kneel, body folded
into your second gravestone
until you— whose tongue has only known to call me
after the fragment of your dream—
desire to rest your hand on my shoulder.
you saying, “let’s go home, son”
two of us climbing spiderwebs
across the divide, gently
following a firefly with a stomachful of stars
fluttering towards the palms of a boy
—boy whose body you’d choose
to share a mother, & a dream.
***
Martins Deep (he/him) is a budding African poet, photographer/artist, & currently a student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. His works deeply explores the African experience. His creative works have appeared, or are forthcoming on FIYAH, The Roadrunner Review, Barren Magazine, The Sandy River Review, Eunoia Review, Agbowó Magazine, Surburban Review, Twyckenham Notes, FERAL, Black Lives Matter: Poems for a New World, Kalahari Review, & elsewhere. He loves jazz, adores Amanda Cook, and fantasizes reincarnating as an owl. He tweets @martinsdeep1
***
image: Lindsay Hargrave
Rejection Letters 