By Omidire, Joshua Idowu I am the weight of the wind because my shadows won’t leave the places I left behind. I am the one without reflections. and if you don’t believe me, try flooding my body with the lights from your eyes. my emptiness is a statue; with head of gold and feet of iron; crash your weight against my god, no; your heat; perhaps you can watch it melt and have me breathe, freely again. I know the lot making an effortful burst through sullied trachea, count your nose lucky if you are not one of us. us, who set the ocean in us ablaze with boats aiming for the hell on the other side through the waves whose breath is smoke hacking our lungs and scooping from the deep’s face the names of beloveds that said and did everything out of tune and time you are youthful I am loose. we are the crooked ones filling the bottomless cup with waters from a barren barrel chasing apparitions of the future that many may never touch before they fall we are earth; we are dirt we are all that made us and all that’ll take us we are children of garbage rummaging the dunghill for memories that crumbled when the flood swept through our homes. A grave stands at the summit of our filth mourners make a ring around a glass casket wherein an athlete sleeps and keeps beside himself a sparkling baton. they say he is the king of dunghill and that his only son is one of us. One of us starts crying, and all of us join in. I am One-of-us, the Prince of Filth. I tear into the ring, and the mourners hold me back I wriggle my voice out of their grips alerting the world to the baton in the coffin. Writer’s Biography
Omidire, Joshua Idowu is a vibrant poet, editor, blogger, and social media strategist. He studied English and Literary Studies at the University of Lagos. He later had his master’s in Literature-in-English in the same Institution. His poems have appeared in Footmarks, Our Legacy of Madness, and The Sky is our Earth: Anthology of 50 young Nigerian Poets. He was the winner of professor Eruvbetine’s poetry prize. He also won Professor Hope Eghagha’s Drama prize in 2012. He has been published in Pulse, Ynaija, Praxis, Literary Horizon: An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal, etc. He reports for The Journal Nigeria. He loves reading books, listening to music, and scooping inspiration from the stream of mundane activities. He enjoys playing with street photography, graphic designing, and photo editing.
11 Comments
Adebiyi Ayobami Idris
2/6/2022 02:42:50 pm
Beautiful writeup %%
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Esthere
4/6/2022 05:59:43 pm
My feelings are in-between...
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Gladys Jacob
7/6/2022 02:18:17 pm
This is peom has so much meaning in it. I love it .
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Funmilayo Oladunni
7/6/2022 06:35:21 pm
This is beyond superficial ,its for the sage .
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8/6/2022 03:12:53 pm
Wow. It's beautifully written. Tells me of the writer's realistic outlook on a life that is somewhat full of disappointment and hopelessness. A hopelessness he has resigned himself to live through for as long as he has to live.
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Blessing Olayinka
10/6/2022 12:54:38 am
Wow... It's a philosophical experience all through.
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Promise
10/6/2022 07:57:29 pm
Life is a race and death is the inevitable end of the race.
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Treasure
18/6/2022 02:33:09 pm
This is beautiful piece, I definitely want to read more of your work.
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Olamide Ojediran
20/6/2022 09:56:48 am
This poem made me think a lot after reading it. I feel it has a lot of curves which a layman may not understand after the first reading. Regardless, it's a wonderful piece. Your play with words is amazing
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Victor Oliyide
27/6/2022 08:42:48 am
The poem is full of high metaphors - only a trained mind can process the subject matter. The diction is highly cerebral though simple. A poem I will like to read if I want to psyche my thinking faculty up.
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