for Ernest
i pluck a flower this night, and ride an ass to a city.
the birds meet us at a seaside and sing, burn elegies
into the tiny spaces in my ears.
the night’s colour is dark. i want to pluck a moon for
a lamp, tell the stars to lead me to that place where my
father sleeps; i want to go there and cry, cry and dry my
tears on his grave.
a ghost does not shake in its tomb when prayers enter it,
so, i pour the moon into the body of his grave,
and tell him to sleep well. sleep well, father.
Shitta Faruq Adémólá is a young Muslim Poet, Phone Photographer and Fiction Writer From Nigeria. His works appear or are forthcoming in Jalada Africa, The Kalahari Review, Third Estate Art, Rigorous Magazine, Chautaqua, Praxis Magazine, African Writers and elsewhere. He was a joint winner in the Shuzia PenProtest Contest, 2020; a second place winner in Naija Haiku Contest, 2020; and also a joint winner in PIN 10-DAY Poetry challenge (November 2020.) When he’s not playing Scrabbles, he’s admiring fair ladies along the busy streets in Abeoukuta. Say hi on Twitter @shittafaruqade1.
Serotonin 