SUNDAY T. SAHEED
Finalist for the 2023 Rachel Wetzsteon Chapbook Award
What History I Read from My Mother's Diary
Imagery: I think I feel mother’s breath here
in these pulsing letters, soft vowels. eyes shut.
January: she opens the sentence with an
inverted question mark, and an ampersand.
two contrasting figures tearing this book
up, into a lopsided-error of a beginning.
February: she strings the sentence into a
rail yard. to find the perfect word to tell
her perfect man her belly has swallowed
an imperfect baby who owns a color that
even god detests. fate askew / quagmired
march: she described the baby’s black kicks.
April: she stands by the monochromatic tv
& doesn't know who is who. NPR airs, he died
he died. h e died. h e d i e d—Floyd died.
May: he cracked her womb open, water first.
she checked his skin before checking his fate
& this is a bad omen. he did not only steal her
face, he stole her skin too. fate & skin sewn!
June{to}August: she makes the same mistake
of writing fear where she wants to write (son)
September{to}November: he found out the
dialect of color she had kept from him.
she felt, nothing is ever truly hidden forever.
December: she siphoned her fear into a blame
on god. the year ends. and her life ends too
Copyright © April 2023 Sunday T. Saheed
Sunday T. Saheed is a Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation member. He was a finalist for the 2023 Rachel Westzeon Chapbook Award, and his works have appeared or are forthcoming on Brittle Paper, Rough Cut Press, Temz Review, Tint Journal and others.
