Poetry: I Keep Having the Dream Where My Father Is Dead by Ojo Taiye
Taiye lands this poem in the delicate spot between bodies and dreams—a primal response can’t be helped against the throaty “leaves”, the “claws” of death and drowning. The reader wakes from Taiye’s “Dream” with their whole day changed.
I Keep Having the Dream Where My Father Is Dead
my pocket keeps the disfigured
orange years as leaves grow
from my throat
i ask to exit from this house
that burns in heaven with
remembrance of dust
there are so many claws hiding
in this poem— a girl drowns in
a nameless river
& i ask who sketches birth maps
on a girl’s body with rainforest
in her belly
tonight, the earth is so familiar
& so, close
i lined your grave with paper
& vineyard ribbons
breathe papa
& leave behind
the silver your body
won’t shed
Ojo Taiye
Ojo Taiye was born and grew up in Kaduna. He currently lives in Agbor, Delta State. He is a poet, essayist and teaches Tourism in Calvary Group of Schools, Agbor. His recent poems and works have appeared in journals like Glass Journal, Lit Mag, Crannog Magazine, Geometry Magazine, Southword Journal and elsewhere.
