‘Nwa anwụna, nwa anwụna’: nwa nwụọ ka anyị mara chi agaghị efo.
My mother does not sleep at night.
She worries. This is the way of things
when cold gods give you a child.
I sleep like swollen opium.
She worries. This is the way of things.
I went mad so young, you see.
Sleeping like swollen opium,
screaming on my better days.
I went mad too young, you see,
they couldn’t wait to ride me.
I only scream on my better days,
They couldn’t wait to ride me,
to drink from my terrible depths.
Crippled in meat and hot skin,
I tried to die from this body.
I drank from my terrible depths,
my mother cannot keep me safe.
I tried to fly from this body,
now clawed shadows follow her.
They slaver at the foot of her bed.
When cold gods give you their child,
make sure you keep her alive.
My mother does not sleep at night.