By Muiz Opeyemi Ajayi
In this poem I crack open
a Quran for the first time
in a long while. & in my stuttering recitation
I envied God for his biting eloquence. The
musicality of verses. Refrains of Duha.
Shamsu. Ar-rahman resounding
its anaphora into Fabi ayi Allahi rabbikumo
tukazziban. At the moderasat, we perfect
eloquence before meaning. I would strip naked
an entire essay on tongue exorcism to explain
how I guide little Fathia & Abdulhameed &
Khadijat & Qudus on enunciating Arabic phrases,
the language yet a cockchafer chewing away
at my tongue on every ill-fated lunge at eloquence.
Damn me if I ever doubt that God is Lord
over poesy; utmost calligrapher of ambiguity. For
I bite through the pages of the holy book & I
wonder: is it me who doubles over at assimilation? Or
God in my image also struggles for precision?
BIO:
Muiz Opeyemi Ajayi, a young poet and writer, is a fresh Law undergraduate of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He writes conventional & unorthodox poetry and prose on diverse subjects including contradictions and uncertainties. He has works published or forthcoming on Fiery Scribe Review, Brittle Paper, Ice Floe, Spillwords, Pawners Paper, Sledgehammer Lit and elsewhere. Asides Law and Literature, he’s intrigued by sport and music. He’s @muiz_ajayi on Instagram and @opendites on Twitter.