Technically, throughout a year by Sheila Ngei

Published in Qwani 02

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Last year I grew

into my quarter century in

angst. I'm too old

to live at home,

start Uni afresh,

and bite my nails.

I’m not too young

to love anonymously,

wound my heart strings

or be the coin

whose head is a jury,

and whose tail is a mallet of scrutiny.

I've tested my apathy and I’m eager to

do away with this, eager to sit content with my

acne scarred visage,

my no longer bald scalp, my tinged tooth,

my widening hips, my unsated longing,

for shoes I never wore, a whom in smoke.

I am

too worn to be hopeful,

too worn to believe,

still,

I do.

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Sheila Ngei is a Kenyan poet. Her work has been featured on the Kalahari Review, Strange Water anthology and shortlisted for the Writer Space Africa Flash Poetry Contest 2024. She detests washing dishes and lives in Nairobi.

To communicate more with the writer:

Email: ngeisheila@gmail.com

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Photo by Keith Lobo