There is not a mouth elaborate enough to tell a story The way skin gives way to scar/ Tears to tissue After the wound has wound itself into a time past There are not enough words to window you into a view Of what battles have been won or lost in here The way this patchwork of beauty on body might But is it really beautiful to be battered Is the story worth the strain and sobs To make your journey a museum someone else might walk inside Grimace at the graphic bulge and dip of a story Find themselves in a hidden corner of a face turned away in shame Who of us doesn’t know shame? doesn’t know the compulsion that comes with it to hide it? Who among us has not nursed a loud gaping wound under an extravagant dress of laughter?
Phodiso Modirwa is a writer and poet from Botswana. Her poetry and non-fiction has been published in 20.35 Africa:An Afroanthology of Contemporary Poetry, Brittle Paper, The Weight Of Years: An Afroanthology of Creative Nonfiction, Praxis Magazine, Jalada Africa: Bodies, Kalahari Review, Ake Review, Lolwe and elsewhere. She is a recepient of the Botswana President's Award For Contemporary Poetry (2016) and recently completed a residency at the Gaborone Art Residency Centre.