equilibrium by Lillian Akampurira Aujo

believe it or not

I keep a lithe gnome

in the cup of my bra

who nips at my spine

all day and all night

I pay him in milk

and he leaps like a lark;

a frisson to my nerves

zapping tablespoons

to clinking frenzy

What such luck! My mother cries

& I slip my good tongue

into the red cave of my mouth

Lillian Akampurira Aujo

Lillian Aujo is a Ugandan author. In 2009, She was the first winner of the first BN poetry prize by Babishai Niwe (BN) Poetry Foundation . In 2015, she was longlisted for, and won the Inaugural Jalada Prize for Literature for her story "Where pumpkin leaves dwell".