Sadness in my Bone

Sadness in my Bone

Geraldine, we should visit the beach often

I believe mama’s ghost lives in the current

of the wind ^__ it gallops across the ripples

like a boneless nymph,

The sea washes her off shore and sweeps her

back in immediately ^__ as she comes

out silently searching

for us in the mud houses we built along the shores,

maybe she is angry we visit less frequent ^__ her caramel

coral tooth doesn’t sit ashore anymore waiting to drive

this pain on my cheeks.

I see her, I know you don’t

If only she had bones ^__ she could have anchor

on those rocks to make you see her, too,

but I think she gifted me alone this moment

‘cause I still bear her sadness in my bones.

Ozota Gerald Obinna

writes from a small town in Enugu, Nigeria. He studies Pharmacy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has been charged for over-ambition several times, and so whenever he is not clogged up with academic activities, he scribbles out few lines that mean much to him. He was long-listed for the 2020 Nigeria Student Poetry Prize. His works have featured in Kalahari Review, Rising Phoenix Review, Nanty Green, Grand-Little-Things, Praxis magazine and other notable magazines and journals. He seeks to view and change the world through his writings.

Cover photo image: Tosin Taiwo