Fleeing and Floating
Overcomer Ibiteye
Image: Igor Zusev
I am learning to float through space with my hands akimbo. My husband says it’s too dangerous, too daring. He says my body is too mangled to be carried by the gothic breeze.
Air only carries compact bodies.
Sometimes, I wish I was an eagle. Grey talons lifting into the air. Dashing into darkness. But darkness is right here and my wings have been drilled into my arms. Maybe that’s why my hands are too heavy to move. There are feathers in my bones, leaves in my veins, trees in my spine. My skin has become a fertile soil for foreign things.
This is what happens when you exchange bodies with earth.
You become a home for strangers and the only way you can escape is to fly and float through space.
Anyways, I’m gathering all I need for the adventure: pink raspberries, fantasy novels, my daughter’s smile and faith the size of a mustard seed.
Overcomer Ibiteye is a Nigerian poet and writer. She’s an alumni of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship. Her works have appeared/forthcoming in anthologies and magazines like Apex, Land Luck Review, Iskanchi and others. She was also shortlisted for the African Writers Awards 2021.
Image: “Dragonfly Mailman” by Igor Zusev