return to the land of mothers

and we were all heading
to the same destination
I just decided to do it
in the footprint of your death

tracing my father’s journey
back down the blood of the Niger River
only to be stuck by the sea
and smothered by blue in the mountains

Arabic replaces Bambara
my tongue licking
their sounds
to melt away my English

at the fish market

My back against
an ancient fortress,
strong against the sea.

It was all I needed to know,
that people envy
what is outside of them.

Transient, the wind blows
soft like grains of sand
piercing my skin.

Granddad still waits at the bottom of the sea.
His lungs filled to the brim
with all the love of our family,

ancient carvings
brought to life
by the Moroccan tide.

I think I am waiting here
for everyone I love
to wash ashore,

laid out at the fish market
for my picking, as if my hunger
could breathe them back to life.

Salif Sidibe (he/him) is proudly of Malian descent and grew up on Waiheke Island. He loves listening to Madonna and staring out to sea.