A garden in my ribcage
Spilling beautiful blossoms
That smell of sweet graves
And dirt-infused coffins
A skull draped in roses
A wreath of velvet red
Heartbeats frozen
Bedridden breaths
Perfume poured
Onto a corpse
I can’t resume
I’m in the morgue
Cranium concealed
In cloying life
What seems real
Is really a lie
Because the edges of those petals
Lose colour and curl
Befriended by beetles
And burrowing worms
A crown of fragrant flowers
Bone buried in bouquets
My skeleton devoured
In death and deceit and decay.
—
Read – Legacy – A Poem by Oreoluwa Lasisi, Nigeria
Carmi Philander is a teenager whose first manuscript was completed when she was 12. This manuscript of twenty-five children’s short stories (Pampered Pets) was edited and published two years later. She has also recently completed her third poetry collection, proudly ticking off another milestone. Her dream is to become a world-renowned poet and multi-genre novelist, stacking the global shelves with her diverse works.
