A number of souls are being entertained

by your air gulps, frightened shivers,

stuttering tunes and hopeful chords.

---

Your brain convinces your throat to

purge out troubled words of the last song

you heard in church.

---

A bald man with brows that seem

to have been eaten by the dead

and an ugly scar he probably got

---

from fighting to take them back to hell

just after their morning bath.

Delusional, you say

---

but you know that the ulcerated intestines

and broken hearts floating in the air aren’t

creations of your schizophrenic mind.

---

Cold boxes are freeing their insides and as you turn to flee,

corpses, your entourage, smack their phalanges

in harmony, praising you for your bravery

---

and awaiting your return. 

___________

Yvonne Nezianya is a Nigerian writer who writes to tell silenced stories of young girls and people facing mental health issues. Her short story, Wonders of Spirits, was shortlisted for the K and L Prize 2020.  Her works have appeared in Glass Poetry, Afritondo, Green Black Tales and elsewhere.

Photo Credit: Photo by Muhammadtaha Ibrahim Ma’aji from Pexels