Written piece
Mahi's Child
Sunday Okoye
Nigeria
About this piece
Mahi’s Child tells the story of a mother fleeing violence, only to lose her infant to hunger and thirst. Through stark, restrained imagery, the poem explores themes of war, displacement, and global indifference—capturing what it means to exist as an outsider in a world that watch
Mahi’s Child
It was Mahi who told me
The story of her child
The one she backed while running.
For days she ran and ran without stopping
Running from the men that ruined her village.
Mahi had a baby
It was just three weeks old
When the men came
When she untied the baby
There was no milk in her breast
There was no water for the baby
Mahi's baby was dead on arrival.
Mahi had a distant gaze
She hit her chest
She didn't weep
Water gone
Breast milk gone
Tears gone
Baby gone
She whispered
She showed me, I looked away
She pressed them to speak
But she spoke
I'm not modern
They were meant for my baby
I can't keep them for myself
Another child cried out
Not Mahi's child
Mahi's child is dead
Yearning for breast milk and water
Died of hunger pangs
The aid has stopped coming
The drought dried everything
The war killed everything
The rest of the world watching
The leaders eat and leave leftovers
Mahi's child must have cried
Hungry and thirsty
Mahi's baby was dead on arrival.