we the children of the goddess –
born of water and oil
our river-skin flows
toward the clouds named after an insect
to taste our scarlet pollens at night
as the cedar-tree-hair on our noses rises
toward certain red lips entangling kisses
we the children of the goddess –
born of water and oil
earthed unquaked at dark seasons
our brown bodies ethnicized
spread-eagle in the colorful sun dropping
from the ceilings our white shadows slinking
inside us at once scared of being counted
like a lost vote and
after borrowing a finger that points skyward
points downward at a riotous smoke of vengeance
like Abel’s waking God
waking us to voices forming rain
to whisper forming fiery thunder
we woke at dawn face-down
on the edge of the friendly Atlantic
sunshine hugging our salty skin with yellow ash
we the children of the goddess –
born of water and oil
picking dust forgetting that raspberry seeds
grow on our virgin breasts ripe for harvest
our moonlit faces to soon grow orchards
we the children of the goddess –
born of water and oil
Bola is a Nigerian-Canadian poet residing in Winnipeg, MB. His poems have appeared or forthcoming in a few poetry magazines like Cleaver, One, The Nottingham Review, The Puritan, The Literary Review of Canada, Sierra Nevada Review, Poetry Quarterly, Miracle E-Zine, Poetry Pacific, Drunk Monkeys, League of Canadian Poets (Poetry Month 2013), St. Peters College(University of Saskatchewan) Anthology (Society 2013 Vol. 10), Pastiche Magazine, and others. He holds a degree in City Planning.