This poem contains imagery and references to bodily harm and human blood.
Now, Nabila’s digestive
system frowns at meat intake — she retches
on perceiving the smell of Suya or
any kind of barbeque—
dating from the shrapnel of
human flesh captured in her retina
from the massacre she
witnessed in wilderness of Sambisa
Nabila now abstains from drinking Zobo
or any kind of red juice for fear of simulating
it for blood flow since the Chibok tragedy
Nabila is now addressed by an R-word used
for asylum seekers, diagnosed with a
V-word for her digestive allergies
and needs the help of a P-word specialist
to restore her cerebrum back to its default setting
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Abdulrahman M. Abu-Yaman is a Nigerian writer and poet. His works have been featured anthologies like Ann Arbor Review, Afritondo, The Lagos Review, London Grip Magazine, Aké Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Blue Minaret and elsewhere. His artworks have been exhibited during Kaduna Book and Arts Festival (Kabafest) and Borno Book and Arts Festival (Bobafest). He is the co-founder of Minna Literary Society (MLS) and winner of Wakaso Poetry Prize and Hysteria Writing Competition 2021. Abu-Yaman is a fellow of Ebedi International Writers Residency.