to the tome of memories tonight I revisit
opening pages of the past
like a writer editing a dusty manuscript,
pages where some memories are mummified
in stained calligraphies.
these memories are of flowers.

2004: my 5th birthday party. balloons. cake.
drinks & delicacies. a gift from my parent: flower —
plastic petal, never in need of water.

2007: father retired from the railway service
congratulations. more flowers.

some memories are becoming blurry;
fading images on a polaroid.
some memories are to be coffined,
entombed somewhere dark. some memories
are pollens plucked away by strange butterflies.

mama gifted me one of her earliest memories:
a floral garden full of thorns.
she pushed up the daisies the next morn.
i witnessed her body wrapped in white
& planted in the bowel of the earth.
a soulless body is a flower without its fragrance.
I hope a flower bloom on her grave.

I have known flowers,
flowers for birthdays & anniversaries
flowers, for funerals.

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Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash

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About the Author

Sodiq Oyekanmi is a young Nigerian writer and a student of the University of Ibadan, where he currently studies Theatre Arts. He enjoys writing poetry as he sees this as a creative outlet that enables him to reflect the world around him. He is hopeless romantic. His works have appeared on Echelon Review, Black Youth and other literary blogs. Facebook: Sodïq Oyèkànmí