They trace the fault lines in the grain,

Akinyemi Shainaan
@shainaanakinyemi9067
5 hours ago

They trace the fault lines in the grain,

fingers sifting millet without permission -

the left hand remembers the grandmother's rhythm

the right hand learns it again.

Each thumb presses into the mound

testing for stones, for the weight of rain.

You catch them mid-air, stilled.

But the palms have already spoken.

They have been folding a strip of Ankara

into a bird, a boat, a secret.

They have been mapping the back of your neck

the way a farmer reads the sky before planting.

When no one is counting the stitches,

they undo the hem you sewed last night

and begin again -

a different colour, a slower spiral.

They are not yours to command.

They belong to the soil of Polokwane,

to the dye pits of eastern Uganda,

to the hands that taught them how to bless

before they learned to obey.

#Poetry #textileheritage #africanfashion #heritagefarming #nircleaffilates #spiritualsitesafrica #polokwanehistory #easternugandatravel #artinaction #unrakedthreads

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