"Grandma’s Letter to Her Son in the Army" by Ifunanya Georgia Ezeano

Maybe this is not a good day to write you but I will write you anyway. My son, you are a boy. Your heart is made like cheese, it goes with everything. When you try to connect dots, there will always be a man undoing the knots and another making a zigzag with your thing rope. It’s a cruel world my child. Bananas taste great but the peels can get you new dentition. Some doors will never open to the strength of your push, some doors require six hands and three hearts to yank open. Treat you superiors with honor and hand your juniors cans full of kindness. Reach for you breast pocket and see a painting your dad left you. In your box, I packed water paints and papers, paint your memories. The world is not yours to bear, keep yourself. If a dear chases you in a dream again, stand, it may just be passing. If you come home and find my remains, merry with friends. Death took away your burden but if you meet a heap of sand they call grave, cry yourself to sleep. When you wake up, pour me a jar of my favorite liquor, my mouth will be open to receive it. You are a good boy, my child. This dark world will test your light, still shine.

Ifunanya Georgia Ezeano is an Igbo, Nigerian writer, poet, and editor. She holds a BSc in Psychology. She has her works published in journals and lit mags in many places. She is the head editor for Writers Space Africa Virtual/Video Poetry. She was the pioneer leader of Poets in Nigeria, at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. She is the author of the poetry collection; Naked and Thorns & Petals (on Amazon and other places) and she has other unpublished works. She has a Gazelle (Droplets)on the Konya Shamsrumi Review Gazelle series. She was nominated this year for British Loft Prize for flash fiction. She recently received the Sparks Poetry Award honorary mention from Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada. She is interested in human experiences, the psychology of life, femininity, and Africanism.