By Olowo Qudus Opeyemi
the shades of the night/ faded & metamorphosed into mild
metaphors/ & i could hear the travelling sweet purrs of the
forlorn flutist/ whose lover had left him alone/ in shackles/
in rues & in grief/. i came to the seashore/ last harmattan
noon & sought feelings in cold brawling tides. they were
rebirth of our drowned ecstasy/. i reminisced my lover/ &
the way she spoke meekly about the moon/ stars & the
arctic weather at dawn. she was/a black fem/ with thousands
of sleek stout-hearted smiles. i kept sketching her portrait/
on my frail mind/. for every ticking seconds/ i tried to sleep/
she was the insomnia that unclogged my iris into/ swart
silences. —we cherished the lagos downtown/ where—
mellifluent music was the aura of the city folk’s wits &
warm fuzzies. inside the plazas & silk fabric stores/
we savoured every steamy sound of the afro-beats/juju/fuji
& reggae/ as we— danced dauntlessly with our lips/
locked in a fervid moment/. busy bystanders watched us
—with awe/ wondering how love is shaped in times of woes.
& i held her brittle arms/ onto— my ribs/ her touch was
sacrosanct. one that could carve your soul/ into a sculpture &
redemption of lusts like how potiphar’s half craved for joseph’s
body/. my phlora & i, were like the dawn & the dew/ the hair &
the head/ the sea & the sand/ the egret & the crystal clouds/ &
the snail & it’s beige shell. we made love into oceans— &
drooled like the mellow waddling seagulls & when the bay &
all other corners were at peace—. we drew our sobriquet out
on the yellow beach sands/ & the streaming sea water took
them/ into a sail of memories. & we vowed that one day—
we shall come here—again at the seaside. to repeat this love.
to sing in downtown/ to kiss & touch our black bodies again/.
Olowo Qudus Opeyemi(popularly known as Black poet) is a Nigerian poet, singer, rapper, songwriter & performing arts enthusiast. Most of his poetry works have appeared or forthcoming in Brittle Paper, PoetryColumn NND, Eboquills, BPPC anthologies, Con-scio Magazine, SprinNG Afro-Eros anthology, Zango X anthology, NSPP anthology (2021) & elsewhere. he was a 3rd runner-up of the Unilorin SU Writers Competition 2021, also a longlist of the Nigerian News Direct Poetry Prize 2020 & also made the top entrants of the Nigerian Student Poetry Prize(2021). He was also shortlisted for the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize(2021) & a longlist of the Annual PIN Food Poetry Contest(2020). Qudus is currently a Sociology undergraduate of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. He tweets @iamBlackpoet & on instagram @iamblackpoet.