The Truth
written by: Zakiyyah Dzukogi
…certainly not,
you know, we’ve never wailed
at the blare of trumpets
nor gave up believing colour
for what we would’ve birth
from beneath the sand.
we’re not bears,
with neither fractured words
nor some mess of gristle.
the way we hold on to our hair clips,
swinging on those bellies
of the mute,
we never ate when we crawled,
they didn’t just feel in between our fingers,
not our words- not the cock on our heads.
Zakiyyah Dzukogi is the author of Carved (a poetry collection); winner of the Nigeria Prize for Teen Authors, 2021, a prize she had earlier won the second-place position in 2020. She is a winner of Brigitte Poirson Poetry Prize, 2021 as well as the Splendors of Dawn Poetry Prize, 2019. She has her works published in Upwrite Nigeria, Artmosterrific chapbook, the Nigeria Review, INNSAEI Journal, Konya Shamsrumi, Literature Voices, Book o clock, Corona Blues, Poetry Tuesday, Heartlinks Magazine, Paradise on Earth International Anthology vol I and II, Of Shadows and Rainbow anthology, Piamvoices, Melbourne Culture Corner, Olney Magazine, Sledgehammer, The Beatnik Cowboy, Warp 10 lit, Kalahari review, Ninshar Arts, Ghost City Review and others.
