Self-Diagnosis

By Abdulmueed Balogun Adewale

Now, 
all I can do is just ride
the wave of things, 
to cease 
my desires from intruding 
the vault of fate 
& destiny trying to be a step ahead 
the game of life,
to let life flow, river-like, in whatever
direction it so desires
& acknowledge
after all that I’m human
& so extend some grace
& mercy to myself too, whenever
I stumble, like a child 
just mastering
the art of speech. 
I want to make something blue 
out of my life, enough 
of the colouring in all shades 
of despair. I want to bury
the nomadic legs of my intrusive
thoughts in the soil
of the moment, cease gliding
into the deserted streets 
of past lives. I want my soul
to brew its bliss from the little
things of life— the melodies
of a canary portaled through
the window of my ears 
by a July breeze while half-asleep. 
I want to hold on to life
in spite of my clenched fist, 
to promenade across every corner 
of the world with a gothic-brazen demeanor saying:
I too, have every right, like you, to be here.

BIO:
Abdulmueed Balogun Adewale is a black poet & pilgrim from the city of brown tenements. A Pushcart prize and BOTN Nominee. He was shortlisted for the 2024 Gerald Kraak Prize. His poems have been published in: Boudin, The Coachella Review, The Oakland Arts Review, The Mid-Atlantic Review, Progenitor Art and Literary Journal, Zaum Magazine, Ember, Brittle Paper, The Westchester Review, Soundings East Magazine, Hawaii Pacific Review, Red Cedar Review and elsewhere. He tweets from: AbdmueedA