by Emalene Loren
Heliotropism
A reflection is a ghost that mimics your pulse.
It has no heat. No blood.
It cannot feed the green machinery of the vein.
You can stare at the surface until you starve,
fed only by the cold echo of your own face.
But the field knows better.
I watch the sunflowers practice their slow-motion worship.
They do not care about vanity.
They are a congregation of necks snapping in unison.
Tracking the trajectory of a burning god across the sky.
They know that to look down is to die.
To look at oneself is to wither.
They are drinking the light that hurts
them because it is the only thing that makes them grow.
I am finished with the lie of the twin.
Done asking the silence if I am pretty.
I am turning my back on the room.
Twisting my neck toward the heat
willing the bone to crack
until I go blind
or
until I bloom.
Farida Yahaya Tijjani is a Nigerian poet, scriptwriter, essayist, and spoken word artist. Her work explores themes of identity, resilience, and social justice, using creativity as a tool for healing and transformation. Her writing has appeared in national newspapers and is forthcoming in Aster Lit Issue 15 and the Synchronized Chaos magazine. She also lends her voice weekly to NTA’s Nigerian Navy in Focus, where she scripts and edits the “Operation Delta Sanity” segment. Merging poetry with powerful storytelling to inspire change, Farida has performed across diverse platforms and has been recognized in both poetry and short story competitions. You can find her on Instagram @_the_authoress_.
Emalene Loren has an affinity for long lost spaces, places, and lovers. Staying true to her Iranian heritage, she has turned to the arts — both visual and literary — as a means to express her conceptual pursuit of love and romance. Emalene is currently based in North America, as she flushes out her primary project “Madeline,” a character of burlesque performance and exotic dance, which uses her focus in intimate connection and aesthetics to build her future. You can follow her journey on Instagram @iloveyoucomecloser.