Paranoid at New Year

Molara Ogundipe-Leslie

Misfortune drapes the head!
are the mothers flying still
relentless heartless
hurtle down a hill
when the year turns its
underbelly of newness?
will you impale me
on the new days’ teeth?

EDITOR’S NOTE First published in Citizen, 6 January 1992, p. 72, in the Poets’ Nest section. This transcription follows the archived page scan. View the archival record.