Valentine’s Day in Africa
I stopped mimicking alien shows of affection
After Saretu rejected my love-tinged flower
I refused to excise the “U” in her name
For I want all to know
That that fanciful “Saret”
That aper of far-flung culture
Had her cord buried
In the red earth of my village.
Saretu of the turbulent eyes
Saretu of the dimpled cheeks
Saretu of the gap-toothed smiles
Saretu of the thundering gait
Rejected my adoring flower
On that day made for lovers
Saretu, why reject my flower?
Haven’t you once chided me
To stop being what my forefathers were?
Why now reject my little rose
Of which girls across the sea
Sprain their nostrils to inhale?
You asked with your sensuous lips pouting:
“Na flower I go chop?”
Excerpted from the poet’s forthcoming collection, ‘A Thousand Years of Thirst’
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