Untitled Poem by Oluseyi Akinbami

Vials of sacred births
By choice less compulsion
Shattered at earth darkest harbor,
The male and female cargo ejected at nature’s will.
Nine branches abide in one face of a lonesome vine
Some are scorched as if passed through nature’s kiln
Others are wrenched as saplings, their nodes blood-dried
Yet others seek nutrients for witting leaves,
Flourishing branches excised by unseen hands
Breathe the air of foreign climes as
Gnarled hands of malice and envy
Tattoo native branches with ugly incision
Bleeding sap from gaunt members
Now cracked, hacked and sallow.