A Nigerian Woman Sees Snow for the First Time
There is magic in
this blanket of white woven
into grass and tar
4am, my Nigerian eyes scan this
cotton? tumbling
through the horizontal lines of my blinds
A departing from the 82 degrees Fahrenheit sun I know.
I stare as angels shed in spatial dendrites
and crystals
Lights bouncing off heaven and
everything in between
From forgotten snowmen with cro ok ed carrot noses
to dripping from the bare branches
of wax myrtles and cedars
There is only peace
as the houses and cars
bathe in white
I want to stay here forever.
Nightmare Diaries #1: Crack of Spine
against chipped tar and concrete. Wild dancing
of false ashokas (masquerade trees) against the crescent moon
The plink plink of leaking faucets
and shape-shifting shadows
Curl of whips searing flesh
anguish darting through pores
Tears lodged in my throat
groans reverberate through concrete walls
Out of the mouth and shifty eyes of crows
You await a death that never comes.
Tope Abigail Larayetan
is a poet and writer studying for her MFA in Creative Writing. Her works have appeared in The Kalahari Review, The Nigerian Students Poetry Prize anthology (three editions) and the maiden edition of the International Sisi Eko anthology.
