i no longer live alone
when the west sky bleeds gold
it spills on his jaw, under my hand
i am the most quiet masquerade
rope around my waist, silent raffia
shoulders dipped in chalk and fresh feathers
the first of all horrific things, the best
the river soaked in moonlight
the bloated body of a small child
a monster, a monster
sweating under a galloping drum
i am no longer alone
our compound’s ancestral dust
chokes the air, see the second,
my love with a ropebound hand
bloodtrails on his wrist, a red voice
the one i met before i met
the face from the other side
when the gong sounds, i turn
the world turns with me
the people fall to the ground
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Akwaeke Emezi’s debut poetry collection, Content Warning: Everything is forthcoming in 2022 through Copper Canyon Press.
