Within the Horizon, by Faraz Aamer Khan. Image courtesy of the artist
I
My father tried to kill his first wife
in a house with wide windows
and yellow hibiscus
II
My love does not know
I have never stood naked
before a man
III
For weeks I have tried to write an essay
on ‘Black Death and Elegy’
I compose letters instead:
Maman,
I am writing to you from across the water
the years have been a heavy tide
against the shore of me
IV
So much sits on the throat
the men on roadsides
the men in corridors
my wrists are living birds
small and keening beside me
V
My uncle
gone some twenty years
telephones at dinner to tell me
he was once a child soldier
Oh Lord
the years kneel down
~ Sarah Lubala
Sarah Lubala works as a Development Worker for an Education NGO in Johannesburg. When she’s not at the office, she can be found in gardens, drinking copious amounts of tea and reading Pablo Neruda’s love sonnets.
