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your forehead a few smoke of curiosity / vermilion full of questions / this poem a manual / making up my own religion / stringnzm / cherry blossoms lose their flowers / in the tender dance of growing / from a distance heaven / butterflies flutter & watch me play like string orchestra / my mom perch on a subatomic chair / with her òfii fabrics / her eyes / multicolor of orisons / her smile / areola of things meant to blossom / a woman perambulates / a child clinging on her back / as hope to her vertebral column / she asks for a seat / dad will not farm dissatisfaction this time / some little boys in their teen / vault over fences & blame a conductor for holding their change / sun sets like bruise fading into night / we watch grandmas stroll with their àpótí & àtùpà / dust settles an eye level away / like unspoken prayers in believer's chest waiting for amin / police wallet the song darting over the lawn / wave their hands & / pretend to have left / a couple sit / so close that it's hard for ant to butt in / meek everywhere / sign of angels among us / i perform ablution / inwardly / i weave constellation into my hairs / braiding stories incognito / grievances are first shapes i could mould with just a string / the left curve of the string / a memory held against the sky of concealment / the horizontal line in the left corner / a garden / big enough to bivouac a little girl / & her oversized griefs / the horizontal line of the right corner / depicts / her mother's prayers open up like delicate flowers / searching for the first rays of dawn / the right curve of the string / are open wounds that do not paint a man of pride / from the upper tooth of the first string / the samaras in the mountain of sanctuary / like forest that harbours secret blades / towards her mother in the mouth of war / the lower tooth of the string / returns her to her mother's bequest / that's / “ no matter what / don't be cowed” / the heyday passes / follows winter's breath / follows flowers that sprout her mother's bequest / from her chest / & make them a survival wing that touches starlight /

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S. Abdulwasi’h Olaitan is a Nigerian introverted poet, a savant, graphics designer & essayist. He writes from a city 5,280 miles away from hell & a second close to haven “ilorin”. He is deeply devoted to God and lover of his parents & good tea. He is the author of the shortlisted chapbook “Life, An Objet D’art” (Arting Arena Poetry Chapbook Prize 2023), A runner-up winner for Prose Purple Writing Competition 2024 (Poetry category), Honorable Mention for Lit Shark’s 2024 March-April poem of the month and was a finalist for Chukwuemeka Akachi prize (2024). His works appear and are forthcoming on Believeau Books, Bare Hill Review, Pictura journal, Lit Shark, Pawners Paper, Carolina Muse, UGR,The Graveyard Magazine, Arts lounge, Eco punk literary, OPA, MMXVI, Avant Appalachia, Ta Adesa, Wordsmpire, Shooting Star, & elsewhere.