CONVERSATION WITH THE GIRL FROM THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
How does your story begin?
Silence.
Do you remember when you first came here?
And days turned into years and years into a world where darkness run down its spine like we're
housed in a shadow. Here, silence is the place to remember things we cannot forget.
What’s your dream?
Humor me, I have never felt at home in this place, except when I sense God drift through my
fear. When I grow up, I don’t want my children to be as scared as I am today.
Who do you hold responsible?
I am dancing with my father again, you may leave if this is too much of sorrow for you to see.
The doctors are scared I might spill my blood. This body is shedding pieces of where it is fleeing
From.
What will you do?
We were ravens. Wild ravens. My ancestors feared freedom the same way I do. Don’t you see?
Paint me as something you will come seeking but wont find. This body is too tired for the many
things that it houses.
Ogunkoya Samuel is a Nigerian physiotherapist. His poems have been published in Kalahari Review, AfricanWriter and Best New African poets anthology 2017. He writes from Lagos .