They Must Be Men
written by: Yanjanani L. Banda
They don’t sing about loss,
about boys’ mangled throats
They have turned them into men, broken and lost
Their necks hang loose
They swagger into oblivion,
and return to silence, prowess hungering
They must be men,
Sinews firmer than a rock
They must hold their breaths under water, dare not drown from the weight
Yanjanani L. Banda is a writer from Malawi. Her first short story, Welcome to Otherhood, was published in the Bristol Short Story Prize’s 15th Anthology in 2022. Her other works have also been published and/or are forthcoming in The Quilled Ink Review, Brittle Paper, and Afritondo.
Latest posts by Yanjanani L. Banda (see all)
- They Must Be Men - May 12, 2023
