God Carries Demons
say— we are products of the phenomenon supernatural.
we—humans/ evolve from god/ evolved from God
who crafted humans
& angels
& demonic things conjoined into human souls.
Mine wears a mask.
So I can not tell, what shade of pain
It’s complemented my flesh with.
My best friend says her demon comes annually with the face of her jamb score
Jesus
she screamed twice at the smelly café
but that was not enough to exorcise him off her shoulders.
him?
Mother told the priest
_It’s a ‘him’ her demon(s) shape-shifts
to suit the skin of that man that carries her vows on his ring finger, the one I call—
father.
Last night I had seen my neighbor wearing a triangle on his head
& godly beads wrapped around his wrists and neck.
This boy used to be a non believer until an incubus made him scurry back to God’s nest. God?
I guess He carries demons too.
Aren’t we mere reflections of the chromosomes He wears?
Now I know— every heavenly being has the devil’s disciple lurking around their shoulders
©2022 Chukwuma-Eke Pacella All rights reserved.
Chukwuma Eke Pacella is a seventeen years old poet, a short story writer, an editor, and a feminist that hails from Ihembosi in Anambra State. In 2020, her poem “Anatomy of pain from a boy’s body” emerged as the winning entry for the Cradle poetry contest. It was also shortlisted amongst several others for their issue I, a collection of poems curated by Arts Lounge Magazine. In December 2021, she became a joint winner of the FOW on-the-spot poetry contest and its spoken-word finalist. She is a recipient of the 2022 Nigerian Prize For Teen Authors Award and the First runner-up for the BKPW February/March Edition. Her poems have also been shortlisted for the Medusa anthology, BKPW and BPPC’s “Do Not Die In Their War” April/May Edition. Some of her works have appeared or are forthcoming at Synchronized Chaos, Eunoia Magazine, Poetry Soup, IHRAF, Last Leaves, Haven Spec, Star*line, Cajun Mutt Press, mywovenpoetry, as well as literal anthologies like the Pixie and Pexels and the MyRainbow book poetry collection. She is also a member of the Next Generational Poets and the HillTop Creative Arts Foundation.