after Daniella Toosie-Watson

One of these days, I will buy myself a god; and no, not a toy god, but the big kind. I will show my god off to my friends and brag about how big my god is. Say my god is bigger than yours; and when my god barks, I’ll say my god speaks the loudest; when god licks me I can say god loves me too and when god strolls too far, I can say my god has forsaken me. But I’ve been told that’s just pessimism; god can never leave me because every day I’ll pray to dog. Say dog, big dog, dog of mercy, I offer myself unto you. I used to have two gods before, named them Bonnie and Charlie. Bonnie was a sweetheart god. Mother of gods. Charlie was more devil than god—once tried to maul me to death. I ran from the angry god and cried to mother. God tried to kill me! Mother laughed. You do not run from your god. Bonnie and Charlie died many years ago, when I was younger, long before I understood gods. I thought gods never died. Mother cried for weeks. Cried, my gods! My gods! Dog! Why did you have to take my gods?

Erinola E. Daranijo (he/him) is a Nigerian writer. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Akéwì Magazine, and author of the micro-chapbooks An Epiphany of Roses (Konya Shamsrumi Press, 2024) and Every Path Leads to the Sea (Ghost City Press, 2024). He splits his time between the cities of Ibadan, Lagos, and Cape Town. Say hi on Twitter at @Layworks.