When I say a faltered moonlit night was for naught
I do not mean it
For I forgot that I was dancing with ghosts
I meant something else — something I forgot but I know
When my mother sang me to sleep and thwarted my hand from the heat
I knew
When my grandmother’s embrace was graced by rhythms
As far down as the northwest of poles and wrapped around on themselves
I knew
When I moved on my bike for the first time and my right hand gripped tightest
When my eyes married the ground and divorced the skies
I knew
In my friend’s bare eyes and ebony skin shaded in rain while we swung on the swings
Her voice sang through me
And I sang back in harmony
I knew
Though the day breaks painfully in its shades of yellow, pink, orange, purple and blue
It gives no secrets to its becoming
But it knows
© Engaisi Peter 2022. All rights reserved.
