Onyedikachi Eche

Life is Imperfection.
What did mother tell you?
“You are special”?
Only if you could see the lie through her eyes.
The world was born premature
Same as you
Your bones are weak.
Did she tell you they were made of iron?
Your skin, was it also made of leather?
Don’t they crack in the night
Of endless turmoil.
Don’t the bones melt in raging agony and strife?

What was the story behind your birth?
At first, it was magical.
An innocent life in a belly.
A seed of a thousand expectations.
But not until the night you came forth.

She was deep in pains
Her sweat burned her.
Her gentle skin cracked –
They were not made of leather after all.
She bruised herself and gnashed her teeth.
This is not perfection at all.

Water is life and also death,
Fire is death and also energy.
Imperfection is life
And life,
The bane of imperfection.