I Hope You Remember~ By Larona

I hope you remember
the poem from your birthday.
Let’s set aside my reeking anxiety,
how I failed your audience,
how I couldn’t articulate,
and how shame sought me
with persistence.

What I’m trying to say is—
I hope you remember
how much I valued you,
to the depths where lava is found,
the core of the earth,
the core of my heart,
where I had to learn, by myself,
that it was out of sight,
the lava that overflowed
from the tip of my tongue,
with so much passion,
raw and red.

©️Larona Tlhobogang