Fix Instead

By Nanyil Darko

I’ve seen the look in your eyes before
I just can’t remember where

Mama says you’re always lost and
take damn too long in the shower

She says you stare into space and never seem present

She says You’ve changed a whole lot and she caught you having a conversation with yourself the other day

She says people are beginning to ask questions, they think you’re going crazy

So she wants me to fix you, or take you to wherever I went when I was behaving strangely

And I immediately know he has done the same thing to you

I know he has threatened you a thousand times and I know Mama will never have believed you if you told her about it

I remember when I have seen the look in your eyes

I saw it every morning when I looked in the mirror at the age of 10

So I pull you out of her arms and hold on tight to you

And I tell Mama “No, she doesn’t need to be fixed, go fix your husband instead”