I wish there were other things
I wish there were other things
than this silence sometimes
Filling my mouth or the occasional
Blurt of a diagnosis
Spelling
each syllable as though they are
wiping wiping
wiping
every form of life from
This woman draped with a blue chiffon
This woman in her usual state of health
until 4 days ago when she complained
Of a chest pain
-- Read as heartbreak/hurt/an unexplainable sensation secondary to the death of someone whose name she can no longer say-
I don’t know why she
Keeps calling me Lazarus.
But there is nothing in her face
That looks like hope.
Even when I told her death could wait till tomorrow.
Ogunkoya Samuel is a Nigerian Physiotherapist. His poems have appeared and forthcoming on Kalahari Review, Ellis Review, Soft Cartel, Entropy Magazine, Five2One magazine, Minute Magazine, Best New African Poets anthology (2017) amongst other places. He writes from Ibadan and can be reached on Twitter @SamuelOgunkoya.
