In the Face of the Sun

A poem by Salami Alimot Temitope

Outside this safe house is a fog

with teeth, spooky enough to make me cradle

in the coziness of my shell. My shell— tender light,

gracious garden of hibiscus. I see the world

as a howling wolf posed beyond here to

test my skin with its fangs, my heart is

a fragment of a mug. Mom always tells me that staying

indoors makes opportunities hover across one's head.

I remain a fleece within, a glass outside,

too fragile to be held in the face of the sun.

Mom's words start raking my ears,

I set forth to rethink, that I too, can learn 

to trust my steps in the world but

can I trust the world with my steps?

Slowly, I am shedding my shell

realizing that the world is full of colours,

music, & distractions,

Getting to know the world, too, is heinous.

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Salami Alimot Temitope (she/her), NGP X, is a Nigerian writer and essayist with a B.A. in English Language from Lagos State University. Her works have appeared in LOLWE, CỌ́NSCÌÒ, Poetry column NND, Solarpunk Magazine, Native Skin, Bluemarble, Ibadanart, Olney, and elsewhere. Find her on Instagram and Twitter (X): @iam_limalami

Image: Face covering by Prince Akachi