What Where How
written by: Cornelia Smith Fick
Can’t see how it helps/amends
blind groping thinking
to penetrate a wall
of slavery forgotten
history humiliated manhood
that holds me holds me holds me
snug with its hatred
no fissure of light
through the brokenness
women in the kitchen
man in the outbuilding
away from his woman
in the kitchen helpless
her body the arena of contest/
conquest
labyrinthine suffocation
losing hope in women’s ability to
call out
of a narrow dark history
diminishing
emptying out my body
my hope for a gentler tomorrow
and yet…
yet…
Cornelia Smith Fick
Cornelia Fick is a South African writer. She was longlisted for the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award (2016). Her debut collection Eye of a Needle: And other stories originated from the MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University. She is currently a PhD student at University of the Western Cape. She has a keen interest in slavery.
Latest posts by Cornelia Smith Fick (see all)
- What Where How - May 25, 2020
