'I Was Never A Man' by Vernon Mukumbi

Though I was the paint peeling off the walls,

the floors were still as shiny as the stars

tucked away in the sun’s piety___

I’d always been the sweet little boy,

carving out a heart shaped wooden sign.

Be it the soot swept to the sides of my lips,

or the appetites sticking needles in my arm,

the ash of the cigarettes clouds my mind still,

for the blank canvas painted by three men,

was never truly given a form.

All Rights. Vernon Mukumbi.

Vernon Mukumbi is a 26-year-old medical student based in Zambia, Africa. He has found writing to be a place of solace and an adventure worth pursuing.