between father and son,
a gulf.
the grave is a gulf. it is
ampersand between
here & there
shaped after the enmity between
serpent & woman
the missing chord to knot
two parts of a song
somewhere, as you read this poem,
a wraith awaits
the miracle of water
in the wells of his parched eyes
as he plants a kiss
on his son’s brow
one reaches for the other;
sepia for olive,
color for monochrome
two
never stretching enough
to touch
once, boy stretched to breaking point
and spilled onto a therapist’s desk
as a bottle of sleeping pills
in another chapter,
boy becomes man s t r e t c h i n g
towards his son. boy crumples man’s photograph
and tosses it into the fireplace
s o e
m k
Martins Deep (he/him) is a 27-year-old Nigerian poet, photographer, digital artist, and currently a student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He is a recipient of the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Prize (August/September, 2020), Ayamba Lit Cast Poetry Contest, 2020. His works appear, or are forthcoming, in Lolwe, FIYAH, Cutbank Literary Journal, Brittle Paper, Barren Magazine, Agbowó Magazine, & elsewhere. He tweets @martinsdeep1
