Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan

The Exorcistic Pillage of My Ruined Body

My phantom brims in stillness, in it, a boneyard can fit in.
I mock these dry bones impersonating me

as clatters of rusty coins. At dusk,
I walk myself out of every husk that shelters me

from breaking into downpour—It's easier
saving the world from drought this way.

When my eyes become a bloated cloud & I
settle to glimpse the trance in panel-beating

a ruined country—my body     into a garden
of Mimosa—something that shies away from the

tinge of redemption. On my body that has since become
a rescue ground, I found the seven scraps of varied skins

stacked in layers. Mother said each of them
represents how many times I've come

to pluck growing petals from her womb
as an extension of love/an assay of loss.

Which means I was a mere drifter—ogbanje
until Nwaanyi Iga forged my body into a map—

the artistry that left me at the mercy of blades.
I dwelled, eager to fulfill this ransom.

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Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan is an emerging writer from Ebonyi state, Nigeria. He’s a penultimate medical laboratory science student who explores medicine in the day and worships literature at night. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in several literary journals & magazines; both online and printed. He was the winner of 2018, FUNAI CREW Literary Contest, and The IS&T Pick of the month Prize. He can be reached out to on Facebook @Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan, on Twitter @wordpottersull1.