By Olanrewaju Olajumoke Akinla

Biology is undergoing an awakening.
An artful method of conception now exists.

A man wakes his sleeping wife.
Her eyes flicker; she crosses her legs.
His eyes bulge—whites straining to leap from their sockets.
He wrestles her legs apart and settles between her thighs.
She screams.

Humerus, biceps, pectoralis win—
his body pressing harder into hers.

He compresses her Strength.
He compresses her Voice.
He compresses her Rights.

Vulnerability and Brutality copulate.
Climaxes occur—
visceral, degenerative.
She ejaculates repression.
He ejaculates suppression.
Trauma is conceived.

An excerpt from Silence: Tremors Beneath the Surface

A poetry chapbook
by Olanrewaju Olajumoke Akinla