African Women Writing Resistance: An Anthology of Contemporary Voices

Lovesung for a Father, with Poet’s Note

I. I love my daddy I love my daddy I love my daddy My daddy comes to the room He is about to go out His brilliantly combed hair Fairly powdered face Handsome He is wearing sokoto and buba A dignified African I love my daddy I love my daddy I 75 Lovesung for a Father Zindzi Bedu For Tamar, for Eula Love my daddy I Love My daddy My daddy the preacher man My daddy who prays with the authority of raging fire My daddy the dedicated with his own immigrant’s tale of fulfilling the American dream I love my daddy I I am sitting at the dining table I love my daddy I I am penning poems in imitation of Langston Hughes A mother to my imagined son— “Now son, Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” My daddy comes into the room So brilliant so handsome I feel pangs of pride so heavy I fall in love in that moment With this 180 lb 6 2 man I feel pangs of pride, I feel falling in love for the first time Similar to what my mother must have felt Upon first laying eyes on this man So brilliant So handsome So dark Seeing him even the ten-year-old daughter quickly conceives love Yes I love my daddy Like my mother loved him Like she would love him still Were she here in my stepmother’s place My stepmother who must not love him enough Because every night he visits his love on me. I love my daddy. II. I love my daddy. From his skillful lips that wake me up from slumber To his tongue which pierces my mouth I love this tongue that tells me to push my tongue out Instructing me in the ways of love Yes I love my daddy 76 Part Two. Speaking Out From his lips to his tongue to his nose That flat-footed nose which he says is the only is the only part of him he sees on my face The only marker that I am his child I am his daughter Every other feature screams my mother’s presence Yes I love my daddy’s nose I love my daddy I Love Love his lips Love his tongue Love his nose Love his hands His hands that roam the length of my body at night Crossing over the desert that is my back I love his hands right down to that finger that illustrious finger that Dives into the ocean of my vagina His hands that carry the mountain of my body Carry it from my bedside to place me on top of him His hands that roam the length of my body at night Climbing the mountains Crossing the deserts Swimming and diving into the oceans Making my body his discovery mission His hands across my back paving the way for his lips and tongue to glide through His lips kissing my armpits His tongue in my ear His teeth on my clitoris He is looking for treasure The treasure of my hidden spots Those sensitive spots that when stimulated will arouse in me even more love I love my daddy From his hair follicles to his toe nails Right down to that big finger That’s part of his larger hand My daddy’s hands are so big— One hand can pin down both of mine While the other roams my body His hands are so big— One can grasp my entire head Lovesung for a Father 77 And slam it down onto the top of our washing machine One hand can give me a hiding across my entire backside Wholesome discipline originating from love My daddy’s fingers are so dexterous They crawl in the tight spaces of my two arms folded across my chest on the bed They crawl in tight spaces to get to my breasts His nimble prying dexterous fingers Crawling through tight spaces Prying open folds To give his eyes access to my literal inside Slashing away all boundaries between me and him and love. III. My father’s eyes have penetrated me Those brown black oblique circles that peer down on me As his other flesh rhythmically pushes into me My world is narrowed down to my daddy’s face His eyes that penetrate, his lips that glide, his tongue that pierces...