“Just as we know our origin, are we not the origin of such pain?” asks Lee MK II, a South Sudanese poet whose poetry explores love, beauty, and destruction.

AFTER

(𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑 & 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑) 

i. 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡  ii.  𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑑  iii. 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑 & 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑. 

after first man came into existence, 
we thought we would come first. 
we thought this nile would be mist
to exile our swollen eyes that bleed 
& weep. we sensed there was blood 

after whipping… 
& weep after bleeding. 
 \i. 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 
\𝒊𝒊. 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅
\𝒊𝒊𝒊. 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑 & 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑. 

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄  𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄

          she had battled her own child…
          when she was severing in pain. 
           she never knew all these come 

as her oppressor. 
until she realized that a child 
too could ruin her mother… 
when he is not sure of how to 
use his hand_hoe in his motherland. 
and in destitution she battled her child. 

           she had battled her heart and 
           wore helmet to covered her                             pain: 
          she had given her child a right to 
           what is right and what is not                           right. 

but at the end of the day, her child becomes 

victim of complicated struggle. her child becomes the feed to the birds of the field. 
this is how she battled her misled child in opposition to human conception. this is
how we had wished we would fight our motherland when we misunderstanding
her stories. we had a right to fight for right. 

𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖

these horrible stories we have
held, started from our root.
these painful narratives we formed 
are the callous images we all have: 
just as we know our origin; 
are we not the origin of such pain?