I get all my nourishment from myself.
(I’m sooo chill!)
When you’re not looking,
I satiate my thirst
and longing by looking
for you in the sun.
(I barely need any water!)
I drink all the dregs from the air
and soil. (You can forget about me
for weeks!) I parch everything
in my appetite for a sweet watering.
It still won’t be enough.
I hold on to every drop for a dryness
that I know will inevitably come again
until the next time you come again.
I love you regardless.
Seem content.
Pretty. Vibrant.
Thick green skin.
What a glow! you’ll say.
I’ll survive. I’ll be here (no pressure!)
You can come back
when you can (and that means
you‘ll always come back!)
But when you water me?
I can burst into a bloom.
When the care comes, with some consistency
I know it’s safe to spare some energy for this pink indulgence of a heart.
Sarah “Nnenna Loveth” Umelo Uzoma Nwafor (they/she) is an Igbo lesbian poet, performer, and facilitator. Their work explores Black g*rlhood, Black queerness, Igbo Cosmology, Sensual play, and rituals of healing. Nnenna published their chapbook, Already Knew You Were Coming, with Game Over Books in January of 2022, and a full length Self-Published collection of poetry, Situationship Bingo, in 2025. Nnenna has also been featured on Button Poetry, WBUR’s ARTery, VIBEs Magazine, Ujima #Wire, and elsewhere. When Nnenna is not writing, they are somewhere being romanced by the intensity of life. When they speak, their ancestors are pleased. Please follow their work on IG @pleasure.as.compass or at pleasurearthealing.com.