You Are Oceanic
By Tapiwa Mugabe
All she wanted
Was find a place to
Stretch her bones
A place to lengthen
Her smiles
And spread her hair
A place where her
Legs could walk
Without cutting and
Bruising
A place unchained
She was born out of
Ocean breath.
I reminded her;
‘Stop pouring so
Much of yourself
Into hearts that have
No room for
Themselves
Do not thin yourself
Be vast
You do not bring the
Ocean to a river’
The Afro-Librarians 