Everything We Make Believe

poem by Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi

The earth swallowing

her shadow and mine; And the noise we are,

and the noises we left behind.

In this room, a lot of noise. The pen blue

with all the things I never said;

and the bed and walls

graffitied into a skin of solitude.

By the window is a jar of dead fireflies.

A night is how long we can live without light.

I gathered their rustling bodies

from the greens when they chose to star

the heavens. You are not allowed to be unhappy.

How holy the truth can be!

On the table is a ten winter old letter

I gave to my dad with a heart.

We know nothing of what we own.

Each word is an upside of my becoming

and I planted and planted

and made a field of my body like a plant

to the earth. As if to say:

I'm rooting for you.

About Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi

Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi is a Poet, writer, and veterinary medicine student from Ibadan, Nigeria. An Haikuist, He reads submissions at SeaGlass Literary, and is an editor for The Incognito Press. His works are published in Gone Lawn, Brave Voices Magazine, The Lumiere Review, and more. He tweets from @oaferanmi.