ELEGY FOR THE THINGS WE’VE BEEN THROUGH by Olalekan Ayodele

In the small photograph of the memories
We could have become, we sit by the mouth
Of our country and sing an elegy for
The lost and those who mourn us.

In a snap, our home changed
The elections
Rounded casualties into
An explosion of irrational numbers.
Deaths sing the same songs
Of slavery, 20,000 broken hearts,
Loneliness hums in the
Back of my head. I hold your hands
And kiss your forehead, we’ve been together,
From the start of our suffering,
I hold your hands and kiss your wound,
We’ve been together from the beginning
Of our aches.

Tomorrow, when we wash away our woe
and rinse our memories
I would remind you how
Much courage it took to breath
Your ghost to life, by rubbing enough
Skin into the quiet of your existence.

Olalekan Ayodele is a poet and spoken word artist who is passionate about words and weaving them into lyrics. He loves travelling and taking in nature. He is currently working on his debut chapbook and has works appearing or forthcoming in Eunoia Review, SEVHAGE, Kalahari Review and others.