mother said, the lies were necessary
to keep her children sane. the most
common lie in the world is a smile:
mouth full of dust, I too
know what it means to hold a secret
like a bomb, fearful of spilling death
into another’s palms. a kid, I wore my mother’s
shoes to practise my waltz
with silence. at the peak of breaking
is soundlessness, every day mother
held him quietly, in our presence
sheep hugged the wolf
to keep it from eating her children
this is why I keep preaching darkness
I remember
three of us in the yard, licking
dust off the playground, six dirty hands
digging the earth, for attention
because she never held us
as babies…
Header photograph © Elizabeth Hart Bergstrom.
Pamilerin Jacob is a Nigerian poet and mental health enthusiast. His poem was shortlisted for the Ken Egba Prize For Festival Poetry 2017. Some of his poems also appear in the Best “New” African Poets 2017 Anthology (as Olawale Ibiyemi). He made the winning list of PIN Food Poetry Contest 2018. Author of Memoir of Crushed Petals (2018) and Gospels of
Depression (2019); he is a staunch believer in the powers of critical thinking, Khalil Gibran’s poetry and chocolate ice cream.