POEM: MY AFRO IS NEVER THE SAME BY AFIA NICHOLAS.

My Afro is never the same.

As water sometimes takes the form of rivers running through earth,

Or is held in sea basins and trenches;

Its atoms, packed looser than solids,

Allow it to take the shape of its container.

My Afro is never the same.

For though, the 'look' intention is the same,

She never looks the same.

She takes on a life of her own, and I comb, building upon a beautiful partnership that began at birth and will last a lifetime.

Her atom structure is unlike water,

But she takes different forms.

She never quite looks the same even when I try to re-create the same look as last time.

Her uniqueness runs through my psyche;

Her capacity to be both voluminous and compact is held in the sea-basin of my mind.

She does not take shapes of containers, for she cannot be contained,

But I maintain, like water,

My Afro is never the same.

By Afia Nicholas, 11th August 2025.