by Ayomikun Bolaji

I searched my body for scars
Figured I’d write about how I got them

Take a flight down memory lane
Talk about how I fought through the pain
Proudly flex my badge of honour
From that one time I climbed a tower
Or something …

I don’t have any
Scars, I don’t have any scars
At least no major ones
None worth sharing
Nothing for show and tell

See, I was a sheltered kid.

The world was too dangerous for childish adventures
I’m the only one they had, I couldn’t afford to go splat

Damn – that was a shitty rhyme
Kinda grotesque too

No, but really though
You didn’t wanna fuck me up
Fair.

You shielded me from the falls of play
The sticks, the stones, told me not to be afraid
Sorry I sound so cliché
But
You don’t understand that your words –
They sting the same

Your tongue slashes at my soul
Hatred for each other festers in my being
You deny that the blame rests on my psyche
You deny that I am the prison of your marriage
You deny that your lies are scars on my conscience

I have no scars.
I have no scars on my body.