Image by Anita S. from Pixabay
in case you stay away too long
i’ll forget the chorus of our song,
call you late at night saying sing
to me. you’ll laugh. i’m serious,
my love. it’s me, new in the states
& taking the subway everywhere
to feel a body against my own
without the risk of attachment.
it’s me, new to the threat of
us in the throat of a memory,
the mangled lyrics of a song
crooned in a foreign accent.
Nkateko Masinga is a South African poet and 2019 Fellow of the Ebedi International Writers Residency. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018 and her work has received support from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg and the Swiss Arts Council. She is the Contributing Interviewer for Poetry at Africa In Dialogue, an online interview magazine that archives creative and critical insights with Africa’s leading storytellers. Her chapbook, THE HEART IS A CAGED ANIMAL, is forthcoming from Praxis Magazine Online.