Song of a Maiden

By Marvel Chukwudi Pephel

The men come,

They tell me I am so beautiful

They want to grow old with me.

 

They say my body is a temple.

They say my body is a minaret

Calling them to worship.

 

Oftentimes, they mess with my head

And I believe them.

 

They say, “How delightful it will be

To bow at your feet!”

 

Oftentimes, I allow them to bow.

But the thing is:

Each time they bow, the mosque goes missing.

 

Marvel Chukwudi Pephel is a two-time winner of the Creative Writing Ink Competition (Ireland). His work was selected for the Best New African Poets 2016 Anthology, and the Austrian Haiku Association’s Lotosblüte 2018, among others. You can follow him on Twitter @Marvel_C_Pephel.