Love Poem: Tough Love
Nkechinyere Olofin Avatar
Written by: Nkechinyere Olofin

Tough Love

she tossed and turned
she was missing something
but what?
the night was long already
and the clock didn’t tell
how long before morning

 
she tossed and turned
in limbo for twenty-seven
she’d be damned
if  she went one extra
without an account
to give her kinsmen

 
she tossed and turned
over dreams long gone bad
she’d found strange
comfort with sorrow
this could easily be
her tomb unless awakened

 
she tossed and turned
a pinch might do some good
when she cried in her sleep
salvation lay
in the gracious slap of
a friend’s water and whip

 
she neither tossed nor turned
her eyes knew better than to close
the hands of a friend
weren’t always gentle
but this last piece of hell
was beaten out of her

or was it?