EYELASHES
(for Lovett)
All around I see the faces of Eve
adorned to the craft of the artist.
I see them put on smiles and cull
out eyes like watersnails, looking
not at faces but on the ground as if
to say “We want to go unnoticed”
yet wanting to be noticed.
I screen through these faces and look
beyond the craft of the artist;
I see native smiles struggling
beneath layers of lipstick and cheeks
peeping through films of oil and powder,
whispering tenderly “We want
no covering for our desires.” So, so
Baby, I cherish not the craft of face-painting
or smearing lips like Efik carvings.
No. I want no exhibits on my lips
when in innocence they touch yours.
Not that I love to go unnoticed, but,
but why a ransom on the lips
when your eyelashes speak to me?
O. Wonodi
EDITOR’S NOTE
Source: Archiving (Nigeria Magazine, Sunday, March 1, 1970).