Captured, but Not Seen

Deep into my daily tradition of
reliving my past life through the
pictures crowding my camera roll,

an overly saturated picture steals the
focus of my eyes and urges my mind
to travel to the day when that moment

was captured with the lens of my Andriod
phone. My lips were stretched into a
momentary grin. A smile for the camera.

Two of my girls held their frames and let
loose of their tongues as they hung outside
their mouths. They wore happiness fearlessly

like it was moisturizer for their skin while I
stood to their side, with the need for approval
overshadowing my glow. I was struggling to be

captured with a set of people who didn’t care
if I stood by them, knowing very well that I would
still be cropped out when it was time for me to be seen.

By Yvonne Nezianya

Biography:

Yvonne Nezianya is a Nigerian writer, (performance) poet and a final year student of Health Education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She writes to tell silenced stories of young girls and people facing mental health issues. Her short story, Wonders of Spirits, was shortlisted for the K and L Prize 2020. Her works have and will appear in the Micah Anthology by Poets in Nigeria, Black Skin No Mask Anthology, The African Writers Review, Afritondo, Green Black Tales and elsewhere. Connect with her on Instagram @yvonnenezy_writes and twitter @nezi_yvonne.