The Poetry Club

By Tobi Aluko

You will find me seated,
knees crossed, chair squeaking,
while a poet recites a boring poem.

I write poems for you,
your smile,
and the spring sun on your face.

What is the poetry club?
A place where starving artists mourn 
the collective destruction of our craft.

In the poetry club,
we listen to each other
and nitpick each other’s poems.

We try to guess who is written by AI.
Who is real?
Who is with the machines?

I pull out a poem I wrote for you.
I recite it. I tell them 
how you make my mind twirl.

I tell them about your hair,
its braids, plaits, ‘locks.
Your terracotta skin,
gait and gaze.

I wonder if they are nitpicking,
or lost in my adoration of you,
as I read the last line to little applause.

BIO:
Tobi Aluko is a Nigerian artist and writer living and working in Poole, England. Tobi is inspired by the artistic expressions of the Romantic era. He creates paintings, fiction, poetry, and rhetoric in this expression, but reimagined for a modern audience. One of his short stories was featured in the Atherton Review. His poetry has been published by Afrocritik and Witsprouts.  One of his poems was a Runner-up in the Bournemouth Writing Festival Forum Seasonal Poetry Competition. His paintings and Poetry were featured in Auger Collective Geo Gallery. Tobi believes ‘… art has the power to teach love, a profound need in today’s world.