In No Time Soon

--- “In No Time Soon” By You I carry the voice of my foremothers, Laced in lullabies and silent sighs. Their hands stirred pots, scrubbed floors, But also dreamed beneath moonlit skies. In the heat of harmattan, I walked, Dust in my lungs, strength in my bones— Bearing yams, fetching water, Yet my dreams stood like carved stones. They said, "Be woman—be patient, be good," As if my fire was too wild to name. But I am not made of only duty— I am thunder hiding in the rain. My back bends not for shame, But for planting what tomorrow needs. From broken bangles and burnt okra pots, I rise, still sowing sacred seeds. I may not dance in victory's light In no time soon, maybe not today— But every market step I take Pushes the dawn a breath away. So let them watch me, quiet and bold, Draped in aso-oke, wrapped in pride. For when one woman walks through fire, She leaves the path burning wide.