Riak Marial Riak is a South Sudanese poet and writer. His work has been featured in Brittle Paper, Eunoia Review, African Writer Magazine, Nthanda Review, and elsewhere.
The origin of water
and the gleaming pools
bubble
bright when its shores woke
frozen by night wind
baba sat at the door
counting nimble rasped in the stars
counting wars layered in the moon
he is misspelling home in his heart
can it be mourn, can it be thorn
last night he went into the garden
to ask his god about forgiveness
and his god soaked body into water
for glamour
one day you walked into light naked
and ye shall returned into it naked
this is what he fought for at the door
this is why he washed his body
dried upon the tide
sun tossed into deep putters of water
and find life as tidy as nymph
wiping its wings in the cradle of stars
this is the origin of water
blessedness, incandescent, flames
and the body became water
and the body became lustrous
god sat looking me in the face
saying jump into the sea
and you’ll be safe from the fire
in your eyes.
Contributor’s Bio
Riak Marial Riak is a South Sudanese poet and writer. His work has been featured in Brittle Paper, Eunoia Review, African Writer Magazine, Nthanda Review, Ngiga Review, Kalahari Review, Songs of the Nile, and Best New African Poets anthology 2017, he’s a founding member of Kush Poetics South Sudan.
He is reachable at riakmariald@gmail.com
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