We are asking them questions whose answers we already know. They are telling us about somebody named anonymous, how her husband gifted her a shiny new necklace last week. We do not ask her why her necklace is made of tire marks We do not ask her why she has a fist parked in her throat, why fuel leaks from her eyes, why babies cry out from her bruises. Instead, we lick silence off her fingers, & eat fire from her lungs.
Our tongues burn as they converse with our spirits, they are asking the questions nobody wants to answer why a woman throws up in the toilet & sees babies with blood in their eyes.
nobody is speaking, nobody is breathing, nobody is looking our way
Nobody is telling us why our babies grow up to be women with fists in their throats men with stones in their eyes, boys with tears in their veins children with fire in their lungs, girls with blood on their thighs babies with war in their eyes & parents with anger in their pockets.
But our wombs are still talking, our bodies still have tire marks our souls are still crying,
& our tongues are still burning with the questions nobody seems to want to answer.
Full name : Mariam Ayonote-Yusuf
Pen name : May
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