By Jide Badmus
I.
The sun undresses
before lounging waters
as though for a swim.
Today, Lagos is soft.
Dusk fills potholes
with withering smiles
& a sliver of optimism.
But night takes
everything away.
A dream overheats.
A prayer is stranded
on wooden wheels.
II.
Heaven’s clock is broken
& time is hungover.
III.
There’s no place for tears
in the eyes of war.
No shield
for vocal slugs
from kindred guns.
No place for grief
on this manifest
& where we find repair
is where we call home.
Jide Badmus is an engineer, a poet inspired by beauty and destruction; he believes that things in ruins were once beautiful. He is the author of four books including Obaluaye (FlowerSong Press, 2022) and What Do I Call My Love for Your Body (Roaring Lion Newcastle, 2022). He was nominated for Pushcart Prize in 2021. Badmus has curated and edited several anthologies, and his poems have appeared in Disquiet Arts, The Shore, Kreative Diadem, Jalada Africa, Sub-Saharan and elsewhere. He is founder of INKspiredNG, Poetry Editor for Con-scio Magazine, a mentor in the SprinNG Fellowship, and sits on the board of advisors for Libretto Magazine. Jide writes from Lagos, Nigeria. He tweets @bardmus.
This is a perfect metaphor of a place we come from. . .
This is yet another blockbuster from Jide. I am opening my tea bag tomorrow, sipping whilst reading yet another great work of art.