Before you regurgitate, trying to form a resolution to the cub,
kissing the fire with heartbreaking hopes-
remember, he’s doing that to amend his broken lips,

before you spit out your weak-spirited passion unto;
the carefree lad, rolling his dewy eyes above the heavens, with the agony of famishment,

recall that scene at dawn…his hopes are built in the realisms of the cloud_
before you judge a boy, feeding mouths like a cat; passing milk to a kitten…
take it as the scene of hallucination…for, the poor boy has superseded his father’s…
learning to become a man

-

LETTER TO MY SON
(SS)
Dear little one,
You jumped into darkness from a door that imprisoned your bones, yet your smile lit up my cell. I saw hell and heaven in YOU.
I saw an angry moon dressed in the shadow of the night. Perhaps, black and white are failed concepts flagged on the walls of lame minds. The world is GRAY.
I knew pain, because I watched you sew a dress of fear, with needles of sadness. Do you remember?
The day your bones brought an exam paper that your blood knew nothing about; I became a whispered song of sorrow.

Dear little one, these stanzas know nothing about sickle cell like you. You knew grief before your bones grew fond of thorns and fought the war on your tongue.

I saw you ate prayers like pizza and wondered:
Was it the fear of not knowing when your heart will fail you?
My little brother, I saw you kiss pain on that hospital bed. Sadly, I saw your prayers slipping of the ears of God into nothingness, like how dry leaves jump out of their stalks during winter
There are bodies you planted roses
And some you left with thorns;
my body is a garden of thorns.

Good night, wits. Sleep well, Little one, for everyday was a battle with you.

-

I slipped out a knife of pain in my heart like a bullet calling death
I am not permitted to cap
The sorrow that builds up within me has sheltered my eyes.
Yet, I am not permitted to cap.
I tried to wash away the pain
But
is it possible to wash away my skin?
When the door of my heart creaks, the pain echoes
Her scent is littered around my room like a died rat.
I'm not permitted cap.

The last time I closed my eyes,
I felt the whispers of loneness dangling from left to right.
I'm not permitted to cap.

These days, I romance poetry
and hug her name like prayers on the lips of beggars
Sadly, I am not permitted to cap.

Her beauty, oh! Her beauty
I have murdered my bed, one too many times to count.
I'm not permitted to cap

So, I won't cap
Neither is this a rap
I hope you grap
Or would you rather I plot a graph?
Happiness doesn't sit on my doorstep anymore. I only see the shadows of memories, singing and dancing like the petals of frustration.

-

There were nights when
I chose to close my door
and try to pluck succor from the hem of God.
I tried, trust me, I did.
I'm a holy man.
I don't do what is not godly,
that was why I turned her skin into the pages of my Bible.
From Genesis to revelation,
I preached and she screamed.
My neighbor can testify.
I don't tell lies, I'm justified
Her screams were marbles plastered on the walls of my room.
Don't blame me.
The last time Nkechi left, Collins said I wasn't man enough.
So, I had to man up.
I have never seen a flower die
smilling face down until I met her
She said it was cross pollination in agriculture. So, I planted my seed.

She said she was good in mathematics, so she taught me the mechanics of sixty-nine. I was never good at math but she was a good teacher.
She said a pastor shouldn't wear gloves, so she bit the rubber out of my hands. She said she had a movie to show me: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.
She painted a picture where she was a cowgirl or was it reverse cowgirl?
As a holy man of God,
I left the anointed oil in her
How was I supposed to know that she would abort and die?
Anyways, I'm still preaching.
Ada should be an easy prey, let me go and pray in her.

-

I stopped giving smiles to the sky because they come back empty and sad.

-

Today,
I will set feelings ablaze
I will sing and dance along
As I become the strings on your guitar
The silent hum that soothes your lips.
It's your birthday
Let's drink from the cup of lies
And get drunk for all ages
In our drunkness, I will tell you the heart that heaves at the sight of your shadow
The the courage that fails
At the sound of your voice

I washed my heart with detergent and bleach but it came out dirty
I don't want to sound petty
So listen.
Often, your words trace my face and kill pains, shooting through my heart.
How can I not celebrate you when:
My lips ache with memories
Memories ache with melodies
Melodies screaming your name
Serenading you like the trace of skin with a blade.
Miss Tee,
Most friends come
without a cup of tea
Trust me, I've had many
Fortunately, you came differently:
To tease and please
I can't word you
Scholar will scold me
I can't plant you
Farmers will cultivate you
So, let me place you high up there
You are a kite of essence
An esoteric metaphor that houses blessings. Continue to glow
And grow in prosperity. Happy birthday, Tosin.

-

Adisa,
The spark of your curves
Is that sweet affection that
rings notes of attraction

To you, I pain these pictures,
Frame and hang them in the
Gallery of your heart

Adisa,
The sound of a whispered song springs with your name like prayers on my lips
Let's make the moon and stars watch in style
As we write the tale of our love in the skies

Adisa, don't go away
Tonight, let me wear you
Like woolen cloth, for you are the fire that warms my cold nights

Adisa,
Let me make this curves my rosary
I promise to recite these big beads on your chest sanctimoniously
Remember, you came to me when the sky was blue and the sun peeped from the inner closets


Adisa! Adisa!! Adisa!!!
Oh! My Adisa, kilode tò fè sà?

-

Dear Rose,
They said we had chemistry
It's a shame because I'm an art student
Let's remain confident
And agree that we shared the same ministry
Over the years
You bore my wears
and held my beards
Are these tears?
Nah!
Wizzy said we should DATE
But I told him, you ain't kate
So, how can I accommodate?
Yes,
I'm not supposed to quake
Because I heard you made a cake
But you can't bake

You know I don't fabricate
It's alright, let me have a taste
Calm down, it's not a bait
I promise to appreciate
I slept in the toilet the last time you baked

The kitchen is not your calling
So, let's not get cunning
I understand, you are balling
Don't get me wrong, you're a darling
Rose,
It has been a while since
we sat on the bamboo
And smile like baboons
I heard it's your birthday and the moon wept bitterly
That's why I'm eating bitterleaf to celebrate YOU
Because every moment with you is the bitter sweet moment of laughter.
Happy birthday, Rose.

-

Life is a PEN and what you WRITE with it; is entirely up to YOU

-

I starred passion on my shoulders
And stripped the world naked
Sadly,
My heart is a river of tears
And my mind, a fancy collection of pains
A friend said," Love is hard when you are young."
I stared at the mirror and it echoed BARED

Was he wrong?
Were those words just another philosophical bastards?

Now, my bed frowns at me
And the candle inside my trousers weep for me

I stared at the sky last night
And all I saw were scars hidden
Behind the stars

I am not one to think with my head buried in my anus
But the fags of emotions are contagious
They slit your throat with compassionate lies
And fill your heart with merciless ties

I am not one to flag poetry for love
But let me paint this paradoxical metaphors in the tears of ironies

I kept the world in pocket
And made her words my home
I am not permitted to weep

I am only allowed to sew my tears into a beautiful Ankara, so that you can see and know that the thread of emotions are fabric made with needles.

-