In Another Life

by Awonke Zoya

In another life,

if religion didn’t mean confinement,

if marriage didn’t mean enslavement,

I would have known love to be true—

and me,

a living testament.

In another life,

if hope wasn’t so far-fetched,

if faith and belief weren’t like God—

a reach.

Shallow?

No...

but neither could it be deep.

A truth sealed

within fires

no Jesus could shield me from.

In another life

where there were no gatekeepers,

nothing would be impossible.

Shaped by the caregivers—

small windows to my soul,

to that narrow place—

like time, like life,

borrowed.

Gasping for air,

I clawed.

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