Self-Etymology

by Agboola Tariq A.

The lore goes: what a child bears is what
Becomes of him. At my birth ceremony
I was dorned in a garment of names
Father straps me with an epithet
Foreign to his tongue and my body

الطريق إلى الحقيقة “the way to the truth”

But the truth is, I have long departed that path
The truth, more burden than name

I carry this title like cursed trinkets
On the nape of a destiny child
To unname oneself
Is to let go of one’s destiny
To unleash the soul from the body
And watch it turn mute to its call
Like a wild Macaw without a moniker

Like you, child, I broke out the womb
With rage, fist clenched in my awakening

Sequel to my becoming, I unravel
My language, dichotomize myself
Mo jè àpapò ara àti èmí — I, flesh, I, flare
That is, there’s a holocaust brewing within
The soft walls of my body, my name,
Zephyr tendering it back to sleep

BIO:
Agboola Tariq A., Swan II, is a poet and a student of law. His works are/forthcoming in Lucent Dreaming, Aké Review, ANMLY, SoFloPoJo and many others. A Brigitte Poirson Literature Prize shortlistee for poetry, he won the Blessing Kolajo Poetry Prize ‘24, and was 1st runner-up for the Fireflies Prize ‘24. He is currently the Literary Head for The Literary and Debate Society, University of Ibadan.