Coraddi Magazine

Devotional: Creating Space For(giving) a Father
Rejani King

As the night sky envelopes her into darkness she feels passion from the moon and stars above,
who are both fighting to be seen in all their glory.

My mother hears the sound of wind coming and going
Or

The sound of my father leaving in the middle of the night, his light footsteps delayed.
Breaking a bond.

Breaking the bond of an already broken family.
My mother giving birth to what she felt caused her the most pain.

My father and his unrequited love.
His love contorting around her neck only to choke her until she hit rock bottom.

What my mother realized is that she had grown many hands that stretched out of her body
giving people parts of her they didn’t deserve.

Parts of her that couldn’t be replaced
with the invisible bandages they often call words

but could with time and physical exertion.
Because words don’t heal——Actions do.

What my father didn’t know was the love she had for herself was stronger
than any outside force.

Now
she’s looking more up at the sky than the ground and

faith than limitations.
Is this what it means to heal?

Rejani is a Women’s and Gender Studies major with minors in both Creative Writing and American Sign Language. She is a writer who is an avid lover of poetry, visual art, music, and photography. In her work, she strives to convey only what she feels connected to and not what she’s attached to. Writing is where she feels her voice can be heard without limitations.