for example, I could be the soul of
a dying inferno or a stray dog
in its adventure; since, of course,
I happen to love breaking
chicken bones, I could be,
like I am now, wine in a wine-
glass, tossed hither and tither
like a brother lost in the hands
of a fleeting kind of love
I could be the thing
in between the breath
of lovers whose lips are
about to merge in matrimony
I could be a pain in the ass
or a kind of hell, a make-believe
something under the armpit
of my churchgoing aunt’s mind
maybe prayer beads in the hands
of a prayer freak if I over-
come the fear of my groin
being fondled, I could be every-
thing that rushes into your head
like chaos when you finally re-
member to close your eyes
in prayer for a minute
Trust Tonji is the winner of the 2018 Martin Luther King slam competition, organized by the US embassy in the Republic of Benin. His poetry has appeared in Ethel Zine, One, Eunoia Review, The Friday Influence, Prachya Review, Kalahari Review, African Writer, Praxis Magazine, The Electronic Pamphlet and elsewhere. He tweets @Trusttoh9ice.