THE SISTERS

By Roseline Mgbodichinma Anya Okorie

Stress warning: The following contains material relating to mental health struggles and trauma in no particular order, which may be triggering to victims and survivors

They say when depression                                Signatures the brain
It means something from hell has watermarked perception     They take her to the sanctuary,
Where there are bells to deafen the voices echoing in her head.
Rosary on the neck,                                        holy water sprinkled  
For Satan to slip and fall.  She is murmuring       & speaking of lost times             
Her eyes are twitching in wonder,                 calling out every secret
Said her sister’s husband struggled to kiss her womanhood 
Said her other sister’s body is restitution for lost men -

Always turning fetuses into blood.
They need her to shut up                   so, they spiral into unknown tongues
Flog fear into her till she wails as a sign of answered prayers,
Decades later, she is found picking dirt off the streets -
Sucking on rotten fruit,     she is more silent now
The sisters drive by after every sermon to throw her a loaf
In this place, therapy means giving a dime
To a stranger who shouldn’t give a damn about your business
Better she sleeps facing the clouds
Than wear a hospital robe - for something so metaphysical