plotting life into a romance

By Olachi Angel Iwehee

That morning, you were an unenthusiastic bystander, 
watching little school children go by like early sand ants. 
With a plastery smile, you make a shallow attempt at 
hiding your anticipation. When the postman arrived, in his hand 
was the letter that would determine your fate.
 
As you opened the flaps of the envelope, 
your heart was a jumpy thing doing uneasy dances. 
You had gotten rejected. Again. 
Your heart flattens into a beat. You cannot breathe.

The news the next morning sings of the fifty names 
handpicked like lotuses, for the state’s institution. 
You wonder if your petals were not bright enough, 
not scented enough.
 
The next morning, your eyes scour the profiles of 
the fifty names strapped to smiling pictures of happy faces 
of people who knew how to plot life into a romance 
with their long legs and fattened bank accounts. 
And in the ambiance of that revelation,
you imagine yourself: a dwalved lad, who could 
easily wrap his worth in a purse.

Writer's Biography 

Olachi Angel Iwehee is a Nigerian poet and storyteller, passionate about telling African stories. Her works explore diversified themes, cutting across love, romance, introspection, and an exposition of human complexities.

She is currently a student of Law at the University of Calabar, Calabar. She bakes and enjoys playing the piano.

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