Folios is the cultural publication of Moleskine Foundation showcasing the theme of creativity for social change through the stories of the Creativity Pioneers around the world that are part of Creativity Pioneers Fund. Through its new editorial column featuring a selection of articles from the latest, seventh edition of the publication, Maze35 presents its fourth installment.

Original illustration by Masha Foya, commissioned exclusively for Folios No. 7, the cultural publication of the Moleskine Foundation.

The body falls into itself
eventually. We all carry
our own darkness —
after it happens I sneak
into their rooms, pause
at the stillness. Remember
the fight to stay wide open,
sleep drunk murmurings
mummy who is the king
of dreams?

Tonight I do not have
the answers.

The body is a flame
flickering. We all find
ourselves somewhere —
murky basements fuelled
by 90s dance moves
and nostalgia. Consider
how much we needed
this baseline to loosen
our joints, to escape —
to be.

Tonight I allow
the returning.

The body seeks out
other bodies. A gathering
of limbs, an offering
of puff puff, poems
& witness. A holy place.
This circle of hands
palms open —
that know how to hold
what you didn’t know
you were carrying.

Here, I am not ashamed
of unravelling.

The body is my body
stretched to capacity
hands dangling by ankle
bones. Make yourself
a ragdoll the DVD says
unlock your knees —
I am practising ways
to let myself fall
as if even the dark
has open arms.

Jemilea Wisdom-Baako
Poet and Founder of Writerz and Scribez