Easter Bouquet 2025: Born Twice, by Titilayo Matiku

Titilayo Matiku is a lover of nature and music. She writes short stories, flash fiction, and poems. Her favorite things include spending time with family, watching cartoons, reading, listening to songs, sewing, painting her toenails, and creating imaginary worlds with the tip of her pen. She lives in Nigeria.

Born Twice

The world sweeps around me like a whirlwind.

He throws me against the thorns

of life and drags me down

till layers of my shell form a bloody mass

along its sharp edges.

I sew a coat of fur to save me from his wrath,

but instead, he turns into a serpent

and digs into my bones

in vengeance. I search

for an escape but no one leaves

this amphitheater

unless the whistle blows.

They say there is only one other way

and for me to find the truth,

I must walk back

along the path through which I came.

But how do I shrink

my body

into a droplet and return to the sacred cave

of womanhood?

I push a sword into my chest and pull out

my own heart. I gave my dripping weight

to the Spirit born

of earth and water. He took my heart

and gave me a candle.

Yes, He lit a fire inside of me – incandescent body.