By Arikewusola Abdul Awal
It begins with love: the flame of misery,
wanting to be let loose from a kiss—
brown eagerness mistakes a landmine for
an orchard and runs into a dance of
explosion. Somewhere, a life reaches
Its climax in flames. O, how death begins
with hunger—how passion ignites a robust
tree—twists it into a lifeless wiry ash!
O girl, O habibi, cupid’s incense smokes
my head. O habibi, be it of death, or be it
of life, allow me the corridor of your fiery
box—allow me an ignition in your yellow heart.
BIO:
Arikewusola Abdul Awal has his works published in Eunoia Review, One, South Florida Poetry Journal, Polyphony Lit Journal, Fleeting Daze magazine, and elsewhere. He is a student at Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria. Find him on X @Awalbabatunde11