Lamentations of a Sinner at the Mouth of Penance
Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled;
mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled:
abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
Lamentations 1:20 (KJV)
How does the eyes behold a portrait
of yesteryears & still make a mirage of it?
I've learnt how to pray myself into fragments
for these tears come with different labels;
God, give this blistered skin a name,
& sculpt it into an armature of anarchy.
This grief is a chisel colonizing my body.
Each time I revisit my wounds,
I find myself in it, trying to remake
the pain into souvenirs.
This sinner's body is a potpourri
of bitter leaves; of roses that flowered
into the smell of dead bodies--
these, I know.
But I can't pretend to be beautiful
in soiled garments anymore.
I've been hell's specimen for too long;
Who will wind me from this test tube
without losing track of the rails to heaven?
So that I can prove to God that
I too, can morph into an angel.
mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled:
abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
Lamentations 1:20 (KJV)
How does the eyes behold a portrait
of yesteryears & still make a mirage of it?
I've learnt how to pray myself into fragments
for these tears come with different labels;
God, give this blistered skin a name,
& sculpt it into an armature of anarchy.
This grief is a chisel colonizing my body.
Each time I revisit my wounds,
I find myself in it, trying to remake
the pain into souvenirs.
This sinner's body is a potpourri
of bitter leaves; of roses that flowered
into the smell of dead bodies--
these, I know.
But I can't pretend to be beautiful
in soiled garments anymore.
I've been hell's specimen for too long;
Who will wind me from this test tube
without losing track of the rails to heaven?
So that I can prove to God that
I too, can morph into an angel.
BIO:
Ayoade Olamide (he/him), NGP I, is a budding poet from the north of Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria. He is a Mass Communication Undergrad in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria, author of "Poets Don't Sleep", a chapbook where he declares his undying love for poetry & portrays himself as a nyctophile. He's an ardent lover of music (loves raving & drilling), a song writer & a preacher of poetry. He's also the first runner up of BKPW (2021 October Edition). His works have appeared/forthcoming in Hyacinth Review, PoetryColumn-NND, ArtsLounge, Woven Poetry, Academy of the Heart and Mind, Ariel Chart, WattNigeria, Bansi/Demigods anthology, & elsewhere. He tweets @HeisLamide and can be found on Instagram @heislamide
Ayoade Olamide (he/him), NGP I, is a budding poet from the north of Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria. He is a Mass Communication Undergrad in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria, author of "Poets Don't Sleep", a chapbook where he declares his undying love for poetry & portrays himself as a nyctophile. He's an ardent lover of music (loves raving & drilling), a song writer & a preacher of poetry. He's also the first runner up of BKPW (2021 October Edition). His works have appeared/forthcoming in Hyacinth Review, PoetryColumn-NND, ArtsLounge, Woven Poetry, Academy of the Heart and Mind, Ariel Chart, WattNigeria, Bansi/Demigods anthology, & elsewhere. He tweets @HeisLamide and can be found on Instagram @heislamide
