By temidayo okun
i’d like to sit on a bed of roses — while watching life constantly/ i’d like to unfurl like a flower— while being touched with the tenderness that a dragonfly possesses as it skims
across the surface of a lake/ i’d like to fall in love with you— if it could remain this way — every time i wake up with each new day/ i’d like to run along a riverbank — breathing in enough
air to make my grief feel lighter than wisps of hair/ i’d like to exist as something abstractly substantial — for maybe a day — & perhaps i might understand more — & not
feel so lost / i’d like for life to ease up on me — & my friends /as they bear with me/ i’d like to grow up again — & not have the back of my palm come away with salty/ burning proof of
pain — every time i crave being held / i’d like to run around the world— even as my body never leaves the safety of my room / i’d like to create my own solar system — in silence with you/ i’d
like to have sweet nothings whispered into my ear— quiet enough for me to lean towards you & loud enough for me to fall in love with you/ i’d like to run along fields of overgrown grass— my
finger never far from blades that draw no blood / i’d like to be a part of the hunt/ to be both predator & prey / to consume & be consumed at once / i’d like to discover a brightness that
won’t hurt my eyes / a new light that morphs the harsh daylight into the purest & starriest of nights / i’d like to own an elephant — that’s no bigger than a peanut / i’d really like to have
it all— & then some more.
temidayo okun (he/him) is a Nigerian poet that prefers to be referred to as 19. he likes catching snowflakes & writing flowerbombs. his works have been published or forthcoming in literary blogs & magazines such as Hey Young Writer & The Serulian. he has also been shortlisted for the Akachi Chukwuemeka Prize. say hi to him on instagram @mr_number_19
Cover Photo by Art of Hoping on Unsplash
19!!!