Poetry: “Still Life” by Dolapo Tajudeen
Dalapo Tajudeen’s poem “Still Life” is like a condensed drop of gold. Its minimalism amplifies its power. It starts in a seemingly trivial moment of the speaker asking their father how he wants his coffee. His stillness quickly spirals the speaker’s mind up to God. A simple question turns into “a plea” — the speaker “tender[s their] soul” and they “beg forgiveness.” But there is no reply from the father, from God—just listening, just being.
Read Tajudeen’s poem below.
Still Life
When I ask my father how he wanted his coffee
And he lays there, looking— not at me, nor the clock
nor the uncertainty ruining my mind
It is the same with God.
I tender my soul, crouch my body into a plea
In the clear eyes of midnight, I beg forgiveness
but he stays there—
listening,
smiling,
mimicking everything there was before the word be.
