Portrait of a boy at his father's funeral
Fadairo Tesleem
father, after your demise, i've written
loads of elegiac poems & this is another one.
i breathed my faith into a flower &
planted it at one edge of your grave
awaiting it to bloom someday. but,
what's sweet of an harvest when grief
is the seed. i' ve, at school, learnt that
whatever is buried beneath the fertility
of earth's heart would ressurect in folds.
each line of this poem is the replica of
the dismay your death has caused the world,
how it has made us grieve. who says
grief can't neither be seen nor touched?
today, i was given a rosary to count,
to pray for your departed soul.
being a good child, i whispered
prayers, again, into my tender palms
& rubbed it across my face.
Fadairo Tesleem is a young Nigerian poet that writes from Ilorin, Kwara state. He is a teacher, a poetry coach and a literary critic. Tesleem is a final year student of "Kamal school of Arabic & Islamic studies" Ilorin, Kwara state. He is a member of Hill-Tip creative art foundation, Kwara state branch, also a member of "Association Of Nigerian Authors" ANA, Osun state branch.
His poems are published or forthcoming in Fiery scribe review, Pangolin review, Queer Toronto literary magazine, Arts lounge, Best of Africa, Blue Minaret, Down in the dirt, Ninshãr arts, Blue pepper, Upwrite magazine, Inverse journal & a host of others.
He tweets @Olakunle.