our fathers
 
the scars on our mothers 
are the traces of our fathers’ hands
 
when mothers are hiding 
their sons in prayer
they say, dear God, do not let our sons end up like their fathers
 
but then
 
sons are knocked over & forced to claim them
the map of the scaring skins of their wives
who cry themselves to sleep
remain to be seen— evidence of their beautiful struggle
 
the fathers tell their daughters
they yell at them out of love
they teach them to confuse anger with love till
they grow up to trust men who hurt them
because they look so much like their fathers
 
the gift of inheritance are parcels that abseil from the inside
like a mirror that shows everything but itself
we are anchored to our sense of self and 
who we imagine as our fathers

Edith Zikpi popularly known as she_writes is a poet, writer, blogger, and a registered general nurse from the Volta Region of Ghana. Throughout her poetry, she engages the theme of self-love, determination, hope, and patriotism. She writes health-related articles that have featured in Ghana’s top most visited and reliable websites Ghanaweb and modern Ghana. Her articles were also featured in one of Ghana’s daily newspapers, Daily Graphics. When she is not writing, she is reading. You can find her poems on Instagram at shewrites_gh and her articles at edithzikpi.blogspot.com or on Instagram at the_health_blogger.