A GIRL'S SECOND HOME

1/2/2023

Ruqayyah A. Aderibigbe

I’m sitting under this tree, where I weave the shackles of my misery into beautiful serenity & the
birds of good tidings strum along with colorful melodies, with the soft tone of the wind speaking soothingly to my soul.

the leaves wrap me up in a placid embrace & lick up all my worries, and my lips curve first in a
long time to a dancing of sweet chuckles from my throat to the naughty whispers of the wind.

My head unfolds onto the lap of the tree, and the branches caress my back to a peaceful slumber.

Here, I pen my frustrations on the bark of the tree & it washed away with the rain.

This is a girl’s second home where her regalia of pain is adorned with about abounding ease.

Writer's Biography

Ruqayyah A. Aderibigbe (She/her), TPCII, is a Nigerian writer who studies English & Literary Studies at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu Ode, Nigeria.

She won the yellow house library poetry prize and has works published/forthcoming in The Kalahari Review, African writers magazine, salamander ink magazine, rigorous & elsewhere.

8 Comments

Onwuka Dabeluchukwu

11/2/2023 09:19:12 am

In a world of frequent pain and unending misery, Ruqayyah invites me to find a home where my regalia of pain is adorned with abounding ease. To write down my frustrations and let the rain wash it away. It is not so easy to do so but neither is it impossible. I think it's time I find my second home, within or without.
Thank you Ruqayyah

Chika orji

11/2/2023 10:26:05 am

Beautiful work of art

Mercy Emmanuel

11/2/2023 11:02:27 am

Soothing ✨
When walls and people are too caging and overwhelming..... I'd live in a girl's second home!

Shagba A. Raphael

11/2/2023 06:18:07 pm

Awesome piece.
It's readable, understandable and relatable.
More ink to your pen.
Thanks.

Adesiyan Oluwapelumi

11/2/2023 07:50:53 pm

"A Girl's Home" is a beautiful piece of writing from a unique feminist voice who speaks from the "shackles of her misery" as a rite of passage in search of healing and as a tool for survival. In simple truth, she nurses the wounds of her identity.

The poem, divided into five stanzas employs an arsenal of fluid, evocative and exciting languages and imageries to explicate the rigors of womanhood and aptly engages the readers in a emotive journey in search of peace through the metaphorical washing away of frustrations and worries.

The first stanza begins with the image of the narrator sitting beneath a tree where she weaves the shackles of her misery into beautiful serenity, which in a metaphorical language reflects on a philosophical method of healing, in which the human body tries to find happiness in the midst of its sadness and struggles. As Ocean Vuong once said "But these bodies do know joy, and they know it by acknowledging and honoring the tribulations they outlived ", Ruqayyah honors her resilience and in it she finds strength for the struggles ahead.

In the second stanza, we are reintroduced to the healing powers of the tree. The tree here is a symbolism of meditation with the surrealist ability of its leaves to lick up her worries. Consequently, she finds joy as her lips curve into sweet chuckles. Here, there's a beautiful and tender use of language.

Furthermore, with cathartic narrative, she caresses the reader's mind and hers, thus welcoming them into her "peaceful slumber. " Here, slumber is a metaphorical syntax for serenity, for peace with the inner self.

In the last two lines, Ruqayyah leaves us feeling metamorphosed and changed into a new being.

In all, "A Girl's Second Home" is a chronicle of a poet's journey into meditation.

11/2/2023 07:51:23 pm

Abubakar Maimuna Esther

14/2/2023 09:26:50 pm

Beautiful words to read today, the fourteenth of February 2023!
Your words; like water soothes my thirst Ruqayyah. I wish it was longer, tho I appreciate the length as it is!

I love the fact that it's teaches that; healing, growth and self love can only starts from self acceptance (with in)

A person has to be willing to start a journey before you know how far your feet can carry you.
And that's what a girl second home is all about, knowing who you're, makes you better equip for tomorrow.
Happy Valentine's day everyone!

Ugochukwu Anadị

22/2/2023 06:43:39 am

“A Girl's Second Home” is a poem of escape. Escape from ones internal and external demon, into a safe space where the girl can be vulnerable; where the girl can be open to herself and have power over her misery.

For the persona in this poem, that escape place is under a tree, where surrounded by nature she can mock and move through her misery with ease, where she can hope for a better future.

My problem with the poem is a stylistic problem. The poet tends to use many words as one does in prose and these many ways are not well used as it can be in poetry. So, rather than strengthening the poem as intended, it weakens it. I suggest a cutdown on the adverbs and even adjectives

A GIRL'S SECOND HOME

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Copyright @SprinNG 2023

A GIRL'S SECOND HOME

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Copyright @SprinNG 2023​

Copyright @SprinNG 2023