sometimes, i am mismatching
my footsteps into the door of a city,
my shadow’s mouth openening like a
burnt wall.
a bone cracks in my chest.
it stretches like a river, till the priest
told me it’s a way towards salvation –
salvation is when a burnt city grows wing.
outside the mouth of this city,
a bird drops on my palm,
draws some scars i could not name,
its beak dropping full moons
of tears.
when the rain starts to fall,
it saunters towards its cage,
& begins to break songs like a kolanut.
Shitta Faruq Adémólá is a young Nigerian poet and writer with works appearing and forthcoming in African Writer, Kalahari Review, Jalada Africa, Icefloe Press and elsewhere. He recently won first place prize in the Shuzia pen Protest Contest 2020. Say hi on twitter @shittafaruqade1.