Babatunde; Our Father Has Returned

by Kolade Olaiya

Minutes after I poured sand
into my father’s grave,
I wrapped my hands around
My sister. Her face and belly
were still swollen because she had been
in labor a day before our father died.

How’s my father?
I asked–
She smiled.
He is in the arms of my husband, sleeping, she said

                                                                                                          And I thought –

She was not going to cry
because in place of our father,
she had gotten a son. 

However,
when she cried,
there was no sorrow in her voice.

Babatunde, our father has returned.

Kolade Olaiya is a graduate student at East Tennessee State University, Tennessee. He is a Nigerian who has been writing poetry for eight years. He loves describing things in a way that balances clarity and ambiguity. You can follow him on Twitter.