Mother’s Dove III
in this one // her kneecaps are the ends of the pestle
mama pounds our heads with // the orifices of her
nose were where baba passed away
now each morning we wear a smile like hers
to baba’s study to be reminded in the afterlife
of sprouting flowers blossoming in his backyard away
from all the cruelty of the world
away from friends who sheathe the sword with a rampage
a way away
with their legs buried in the quicksands of love //
[ her presence is a wrist injury;
the reason we can’t shake hands with other people
even now she left // we still carry the hickeys she left
on our forehead around with pride because at the temple
her waist beads are rosaries for prayers
for she is our guardian angel // an oeuvre // mother’s dove ]
Olaitan Humble is a Nigerian poet and pacifist who likes to collect quotations and astrophotos. He and his poems won the People’s Choice Award at Earnest Writes Poetry Prize Awards 2020, March edition of Loudthotz Poetry Open Reading 2020 and JustDeen Poetry Contest 2020. His works are featured and/or are forthcoming in Crêpe & Penn, Giallo Lit, Ngiga Review, Cultural Weekly, EroGospel, Konya ShamsRumi, POEMIFY, the QuillS, and A Country of Broken Boys Anthology, among others.
