Joshua Effiong
Or How Did We Mend Failings With Golden Threads?
After The Lovers by Remedios Varo
Has it always been that way?
I am not sure what you mean
Do you remember when we first met?
People often said we looked alike
Did you notice we both have an oval face?
We also have a long nose and thin lips
I could see myself reflected in your eyes
I wanted to mold your vision into mine
Don’t we look alike more every day?
I know what you are thinking right now
We are sinking into a monochrome canvas
I hold your hand and feel it is my own
How did we tailor our dreams to fit?
We’ve mastered the art of reconciliation
You measure the right amount of spices
Not even an emperor’s palate is so refined
I see your smile with memory’s eyes
I redress your arched back with one glance
We’ve crafted selective memories
Mended failings with golden threads
To celebrate half a century of caring
Hedy Habra is a poet, artist and essayist. She has authored three poetry collections, most recently, The Taste of the Earth (Press 53 2019), Winner of the Silver Nautilus Book Award and Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. Tea in Heliopolis won the Best Book Award and Under Brushstrokes was finalist for the International Book Award. Her story collection, Flying Carpets, won the Arab American Book Award’s Honorable Mention and was finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. A sixteen-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the net, and recipient of the Nazim Hikmet Award, her multilingual work appears in numerous journals and anthologies. https://www.hedyhabra.com/
A Nigerian by birth and Studying Science Laboratory Technology at University of Calabar, Joshua Effiong is a lover of poetry & here he finds freedom. His literary works have appeared/forthcoming in Eboquills, Kalahari Review, Shallow Tales Review, Rough Cut Press, Madrigal Press, Warning lines, Hearth Magazine, Mausoleum Press, Ghost City Press, Acropolis Journal, Tilted House, Clandestine Literary Magazine, Augment Review, Cypress Poetry Journal, Aganpathus Collectives etc. Author of Autopsy of Things Left Unnamed. He also find joy in photography and reading. Connect with him via Instagram @josh.effiong and twitter @JoshEffio.