Learning

photocredit- sinistar22x2

I am learning all over again,

the sound of my name.

How to condition my tongue

when saying good morning in my mother’s dialect.

I am learning again,

the taste of okra and ogbono,

how to rumble with the never ending elasticity

until it breaks like bad news.

I am learning again,

The smell of a dead rat

and how to fetch it out

without the help of a rat gum.  

I promise,

they won’t wash off this time

 like paint from a wall

they would stick faster than a lover’s promise.