boiling in the saucepan
is nile perch
seasoned with salt and mchuzi mix
diced tomatoes, two red onions and
green chillies, finely chopped, picked fresh
this morning from her back garden

this fish with posho and steamed pumpkin
will feed my siblings and I for lunch

the head of a fish is for the head of the house

my brother will suck dry the eye sockets
drain bones and cartilage of sweet juices
just like our father, then our mother did

three years since this became an annual ritual
eating her favourite meal, commemorating her
before time mountains over her memory
just as she taught us to do for father
with tilapia, pigeon peas, and sweet potatoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Harris Vo on Unsplash