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It wasn’t me
Ever heard me laugh without a sound?
I am black
Immutable
That couldn’t be my kisser
It was yellow and red
It was any pick from the rainbow

My hand it was, not me
Not my hand, it’s my finger to blame
Well, just a heady mail from
Ovation consulate

In vain I wrestled
To wed its pace and mine
Into this millennial cave
Where heads ebb to dots
And feelings flight fails not
From no distance to another
Feelings flight alternate

I never cried when I laughed
It wasn't me
It was for ceremony
I disown the smile I gave
I never gave

To subtlety was I never tamed
Still less quick I was
To fail to say, to type
How unfunny
Her joke
How shallow
A persiflage

I was redundant anyway
I and my slow strict bends
I was absent and never missed
The fast one was the lenient too

My animus she missed
Amity she snubbed
She was in safe hands no doubt

How it loved her my thumb
Tablet, tap, type, and send
All in the cast except me

If only my lips got a pass
I would have told her a story
Of how emoji smiled at her
It was not me.



Onyendozi Samson Aja is an emerging writer who attempts to see words in everything around him. He is trained to write legal texts, but he always yields to the drive to write poetry. He lives in Nigeria and may be found on Twitter @SamsonAja.
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25 Mar 2024

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