“no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark.”
–Warsan Shire, Home
the shame you bear / exile / even
the borders bare their enamel at
you / straddling the boarding gate
with anxious feet / ‘homeland’
security has assured your safety
away from [ ] / do land
on your feet / nine lives remain
to be spent on milk & honey &
something strong for amnesia
to settle / in place of the ache
Nkateko Masinga is a South African poet and 2019 Fellow of the Ebedi International Writers Residency. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018 and her work has received support from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg and the Swiss Arts Council. Nkateko is an interviewer at Africa In Dialogue, an online interview magazine that archives creative and critical insights with Africa’s leading storytellers, as well as the founder and managing director of NSUKU Publishing Consultancy. She is the author of a digital chapbook titled THE HEART IS A CAGED ANIMAL, published by Praxis Magazine. Her latest work has been selected by the African Poetry Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Books, for the 2020 New Generation African Poets chapbook box set.