by Taiwo Aloba
I memorize the psalms to please my stepmother
and also, for free meat pie and chin chin.
She tells me to lead praise and worship
as I pestle pepper in a wooden mortar.
She makes me watch
a bargain-basement Antichrist movie –– a movie marked
by an inflexible stasis of sense-pulverizing horror
and a hearty vein of hysteria –– a movie in which
the rapture occurs in the darkness
so now I sleep with the lights on.
A native of Ilesha, Osun state, Taiwo Aloba holds a Master's degree in Creative Writing and English, a certificate in Musical Theatre, and a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts and Music. She currently resides in New York City. Her poetry book, "Orange," is available here.