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*Note: ‘Naphtalie’ was published by the Poetry Platform of African Global Networks and was only available to be read for the month of July in 2020. Since then, the rights have reverted back to Mugabi Byenkya.

–

Mesmerized / by those pools you call eyes / as I fall in, don’t want to dip I want to dive / wait a second hold up take a glance to the side / girl you got such a beautiful smize / smiling with your eyes making Tyra look intelligent Gracing I with your presence ever so benevolent / opposite sex attraction becomes irrelevant / because you’re a full moon but see yourself as a crescent

I wrote that verse for a friend
I wrote it as an attempt to release
a way to squeeze
rend
and then mend t
hese emotions inside of me
personal psychiatry

I used to say

years before
I went crazy
needed psychology to bring me back from the edge

years before
these suicidal tendencies
caught me
slipping
gripping
onto a precarious ledge

years before
I met you
and was reminded of the blues
that
I felt
that
you felt
that
we felt
like wool fibers
they felt
attempting to melt
into those creamy hues that you call

eyes

—

about the author:
Mugabi Byenkya is an award-winning writer, poet and occasional rapper. He was longlisted for the Babishai Niwe Poetry Award in 2015 while his essays and poetry have been published in The Good Men Project, The Mighty, and Skin Deep, in addition to over 25 other publications.

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