(For my Grandfather)
There is tenderness in eating from the same platter
with someone other people kiss through the screen.
In poking your belly-
while you watch your grandfather address your kinsmen,
Your back careless on your mothers thighs,

reassuring yourself the food in your stomach is the same in his. Grandfather,
The kiss you planted on my forehead has sprouted a flower,
I do not touch my face, or let anyone come close to me,
because I nurse a garden on my face.
(Grand)Father,
Love is when my heart opens
and I see your face-Diaphylleia in the rain,
transient,
blooming memories.

Ada Michael Nwadike is a Nigerian poet and storyteller. She was shortlisted for the 2016 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize. She was also in the BN poetry longlist in 2015, and she was 3rd prize in poetry for the Muse Prize in the same year. Her works have appeared in praxis magazine, Poets in Nigeria, Type and Cast, quintessential Christian, Arts Lounge, among others. Adaeze is a teacher and peer educator, and she considers teaching the most rewarding of all her activities. She watches football when Radford is playing, and can’t go a day without listening to Jidenna.