Sugarcane Ritual for A Bleeding Disorder
I was told I was born with
restive demons in my blood.
One morning in June, my grandma,
wilting like a sinking sun,
gathered my friends as oracles
to the part of my body
where there are afflictions.
For several days I watched her
place peeled stems in the
purity of their palms,
and as a child, I believed
the sweetness from sugarcanes
would supply a weeping wound
with proteins,
seal it off,
as a ritual must.
But there is merely a trick for recovery,
because
why does a rite meant to heal
only deepen the torment?
The gods,
after nourishing them,
surprisingly antagonistic.
They fed on our offerings,
their stool firmed, then parted softly,
while I went on with bleeding.
Did they not see—
my jutted joints, my unsealed cuts,
my heart, near moribund—
at the ritual ground?
Hassan A. Usman (he/him), NGP II, a person living with Haemophilia, is a graduate of Counselling Education at the University of Ilorin. He is an award-winning writer and adjudicator, and a celebrated public speaker. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Electric Literature, Consequence Forum, Blue Route Journal, Blue Marble Review, Isele Magazine, Kissing Dynamite, The Shallow Tales Review, Lunaris Review, Afrocritik, Five South, Icefloe Press, Paper Lanterns, trampset, Poetrycolumn-NND, and elsewhere. He’s an alumnus of the SprinNG Writing Fellowship 2022. Hassan is currently interning as a Business Development Executive, enjoys cooking, listening to Afrobeats, and models part-time.