the flaw i am
1
there is a name i bear/
when wholeness is but a memory—
fell raven, for i am a bird/
wriggling upon the sand—
waiting for my flesh to decay/
that my bones might be the earth’s souvenir—
my woes are razor-toothed/
devouring my soul—
creating a crater within my belly
2
i fight a war struggling to win/
the grass is me, plague within a plague—
does it bother my chi to sigh/
yet growl when i work to tidy—
the broken pieces of my existence?
darkness bangs an antiqued bell/
whose sound is a throbbing bong of my past sins—
hope is façade, pain is a balm/
soothing my wounds to never heal
3
fire is a purger. death is an herald/
of the designers strangest craft
i am a mould which receives flaw/
hardening up to break apart—
the universe has resented me to sprout/
bloom in season, wither out of it—
my inventions are my undoing/
courage is a poisoned dart,
turning my whiteness to crimson—
burning me down without remorse
4
the bane of an experience is its fleeting bliss/
thorns do prick my conscience/
i am a lie. ground. fine as dust—
which the universe spreads across its dome—
there is no home for the wanderer/
whose body is older than his soul
5
my soul is lost like a sand bead/
loses itself to its new lord/the sand—
i raise my hands to the designer of rebirth/
to fashion a new me. devoid of weakness—
smoke exudes from my lungs/
its savour a mint of bittersweet
Biography
Jude Anuoluwa is a young writer from Nigeria. His works have strictly been ghostwriting and editing. When he is not writing, he enjoys watching cartoons, reading comic strips, and listening to a variety of music. You may reach him on Twitter and Instagram @judeanuoluwa(po)