By Jimoh Abdullah
& though I have lived so long in darkness,
tonight I climb out of the cave to look up
at the moonlit sky that sees me first and smiles
God knows, happiness and the sky long to see me
like villagers yearning for the moon to step out
Tonight I smelt my aches,
shapeshift them into click beetles and watch
as they fly away with the little light they steal
from the moon I have become. Tonight, the
rubble I’m collecting are bright diamonds not
ruin that my palms are used to. In my dream
tonight, mum is not saying toughen up, when it’s
time, your eagle will soar. I see her munching
the fruit salad made by her L comprising
pineapple, diced cucumber, watermelon and
red apple. The juice of the fruits – her joy –
moistens her lips, which were dry for years
from kissing grief. & now she says
alhamdulillah, a bird is coming.
Bio
Abdullah Jimoh O. is a linguist and a budding writer. He finds delight in creativity. He is an NLP(Natural language processing) enthusiast. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in the Mudroom, Kalahari Review and Afritondo.