In a dream of scars, I decide to leave the meshes
Alone. The scaffold of memories mounted on a
Quicksand of places. Yesterdays making us into
Tomorrows into metaphors of goodbyes. How
A mother says “I’ll be back soon, but I have to
Take this journey. There’s a storm waging in your
Father’s body,” and the thread of the “s o o n”
Stretches into an elastic band where
A boy = longings + broken. In a dream of
Memories, boys like me think we’re trying
To outrun the brimstones when it’s the trauma.
So, do prayers make us run faster or do they
Postpone the hour of another suicide? I’m sorry,
Oh Lord, I might’ve taken too much of your time
When I know there aren’t clouds for flight
For my genus. I have crash-landed too much
From my dreams in search of [ ]. I’m sorry
I’ve tried to be more than my body. How I say
“Give us this day” and it sounds too much to
Ask for when I only mean a day that isn’t pulling
Roses out of me. Oh glory. I memories of wants.
I dream in cursive hoping everything will return
Unbent. Sometimes, I fold into my blanket,
Put the music on and pretend someone is humming
A lullaby to lull me to sleep.
Muhammed Olowonjoyin [TPC III] is a Nigerian poet and a student of Biochemistry at the University of Ilorin. Winner of the 2023 Dawn Prize for Poetry, he and his poems have featured or are forthcoming in QAE Journal, Gutter Magazine, Pepper Coast Lit, Writer Space Africa, Olney Magazine, Stanchion, Poetry Column NND, Brittle Paper, Sunlight Press, and elsewhere.
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