ROSELINE MGBODICHINMA

Title: DAGGERS

Poem: I bite my lip 
till I can taste copper 

                  My teeth are tiny fences 
barricading my throat,
Stopping liquid from 
flowing into my gullet 

                     I never knew 
I could form a graveyard in my mouth,
That I could speak 
with my tongue buried in questions 

              If time heals all wounds 
Why does grief have a bitter aftertaste? 

                  The only special thing 
about razors is the ability 
to draw patterns on skin,
Lines & puzzles gleaming in red

              I don't think loss can be forgotten,
It turns into black & blends with the gum 
It resurfaces when it's time to speak about love

I bite into flesh digging for answers
I Tease my body with daggers 
                        & cleanse it with spirit

I will sew my mouth 
I will suck on my teeth 

                 Anybody can be swallowed 
Anybody can be bone in the gullet -
Poking the ears for an escape 

Anybody can survive this, 
                             Except me

Roseline Mgbodichinma is a Nigerian writer whose works have appeared or are forthcoming in The African writer Magazine, The Hellebore, Serotonin Poetry, West Trestle Review, X-ray lit mag, JFA human rights mag, Serotonin poetry, Indianapolis Review, Artmosterrific, Kalahari review, Blue Marvel Review & elsewhere. She won the Audience Favorite award for the Union Bank Campus writing challenge – Okada books, she is the third prize winner for the PIN food poetry contest and a finalist for the Shuzia Creative writing contest. You can reach her on her blog www.mgbodichi.com and Twitter @Rmgbodichinma. 

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