Questions for Ada

by Ijeoma Umebinyuo

Do not drown yourself in a man.

she has a faraway look her skin begins to glow she says “men take and take” you nod in agreement

Nobody warned you that the women whose feet you cut from running would give birth to daughters with wings.

Bless the daughters who raised themselves.

wounds filled with love. woman becoming.

she has been covered in regrets, crawled on all fours for her salvation.

with a smile like an apology for having a daughter whose being does not include shifting her value for a man.

The woman, alone, finding parts of herself she never knew existed will always be more powerful.

I am writing for all these women who still show up with a smile after battling their demons the night before

how to wash yourself till the sadness weeps out of your body. You must remember to hold yourself on

days that feel so empty the pain echoes.

You are a woman, a vast land filled wit...

flawed as i am, i am not a sin.

You must not let her die screaming her pains outside her body.

you must remember to plant flowers inside the words you give her.

I will return home to six graves with a foreign accent I will kneel and greet each of them waiting for them to bless me I will return home to six graves sitting where I was once just a little girl I will imagine her dancing to welcome me offering me roasted yam and peppered palm oil I will remember their smiles she will remember me

do not become the woman apologizing for days when she has thorns from the harshness of the world.