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Something Tells Me I Should Run: Two Poems by Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

Image: Hernán Piñera via Flickr
Image: Hernán Piñera via Flickr

SOMETHING TELLS ME I SHOULD RUN

To you.
To the fire that is a memory.
To remembrance that is grief.

Something tells me I should run
To the haunted rooms in my head.
To solace that will never be.

Something tells me I have nowhere to run.

———————

OUR DAUGHTERS DON’T LOVE THEMSELVES (ENOUGH)

Because we teach them not to —
We tell them to tread softly
Lest they intimidate their suitors.
We teach them to be modest
To the point of breaking.
We remind them that they must carry the family
In their wombs, in their hearts, everywhere.

They have learnt to shrink their joys.

We teach them to grin and bear.
Oh, Lord! How can one love herself
When she carries the sins of the whole world?
———————
Poems: © Marvel Chukwudi Pephel
Image: Hernán Piñera via Flickr

Marvel Chukwudi Pephel
Marvel Chukwudi Pephel
Marvel Chukwudi Pephel is a prolific Nigerian writer who writes poems, short stories and other things besides. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Pyrokinection, Jellyfish Whispers, High Coupe, The Kalahari Review, The Avocet, The Naked Convos, Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine, Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature, Academy of the Heart and Mind, I Am Not a Silent Poet, PIN Quarterly Journal, African Writer, amongst others. He was shortlisted for the 2016 Quality Poets Competition. His poetry was selected for the Best New African Poets 2016 Anthology. He is currently a two-time winner of the Creative Writing Ink Competition (Ireland). You can follow him on Twitter @Marvel_C_Pephel.

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