Untold stories lurk around a black boy

whom before daybreak, mastered the language of ghosts,

whose palm now weighs the weight of forgotten prayers 

but remains unbroken.

How he traced his scars, charted their paths,

sketched out answers where the world left him dismayed.

Untold stories lurk around a black boy

who wear flaws like purple linens—his kind of riches.

A boy who seeks not his reflection in mirrors 

but pieces of wineglass picturing him in shattered worlds.

Isn’t life too a mosaic of broken things only held together?

Untold stories lurk around a black boy

whose survival isn’t in spite of, but because of silent wars,

who knows wounds are prelude, not to death, buthealing,

that when petals fall, they become soil for what comes next.

Aôndona (D’niel) is a versatile, award-winning writer and arts enthusiast from Benue, Central-Nigeria. He is a member of Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation, Abuja, Oyongo Collective, and an alumnus of the Sprinng Writers Fellowship. He serves as a Feature editor at Pawners Paper, and Editor-in-Chief at Words-Empire Magazine.


You can connect with him on social media: FB: Daniel Aôndona, IG: @aondonadaniel.30, X: @aondonadaniel30