I Look to the Sky Again by Afeziwe Mdlalose

I look to the sky again,

As I have before,

But what does a Zulu girl know about space?

The bleeding of Mars,

The bloating and starving moon,

Pregnant clouds make ripples, 

Above me, 3 drongos swim.

The raindrops soak me to the point where my shirt embraces my Venus dimples, 

But the air is still on fire.

The lightning remembers every coil on my head.

I do not fear the thunder at all.

My mother pulls me into warmth,

chastises the child in me like she has since I can recall,

my feet and hands show signs of almost pruning, I must have missed the blue setting on my fingertips.

I stare at the droplets collecting each other on the sill,

Think back to the first God that leapt out of the primordial reeds,

Think back to how space and time have always shared the same root word in isiZulu,

But again, what does a Zulu girl know about space?

Afeziwe Thandolwethu Mdlalose(she/her) is a black queer woman living in Durban, South Africa. She draws inspiration for her work from experiences and has been doing so from the age of twelve. Her works have never been published in any magazine but some have been accepted at the Avbob Poetry Competition in South Africa over the years. She tweets @mdlaloseafeziwe.