By Eniola Abdulroqeeb Arowolo
Achieving this much is already glory — Cavafy
at the nape of mulberry, there’s rot.
i have watched it too, my life, descending
like a boat caught in the ire of a storm.
& i stand at the end of it all with an olive branch
jittering at the crack of my lips—
still offering water to a vine familiar only
with the inverse of natural order, rotting at its roots.
to collect into the quietude of night is to rebel
the heat of the day; and so, like the antics of a deer
learning to survive a jungle, i have hardened
the soles of my feet against the embers scattered
at the bush lost in the sight of my dark memories.
even at the absence of a garden, i cultivate
the land with my hands, basking in the evidence
of rain gathering in the cumulous of the sky.
at the nape of the woodrot, there’s honey.
i am in optimal flight, a bright falcon—me, the patron saint
of my golden & fulfilling life.
Author’s note: This poem borrows & alters a line from Adesiyan Pelumi’s Prophecy
BIO:
Eniola Abdulroqeeb Arowolo is a writer from Nigeria. He won the 1st Edition of Wanjohi Prize for African Poetry, received a honourable mention in 2024 Bacopa Literary Review Poetry Contest, and was a finalist for Folorunsho Editor’s Poetry Prize. His works have appeared—or are forthcoming—in 2024 Small Fictions anthology, Bacopa Literary Review, ASAP Review, Full House Literary, FIYAH, Astrolabe, Asterlit, 4faced Liar, Weganda Review, The Republic, ANMLY, Nigeria Review, Yarnz Magazine, Breath and Shadow, 20:35 Africa, and elsewhere. He’s a member of the Frontiers Collective, and currently serves as a Poetry Reader for Chestnut Review and Orion’s Belt. Find him on X @eniola_abdulroq