It’s been a long history of passing, of hunger & resolution.
I do not like to talk about it, but it’s okay to scroll names.
I won’t marvel if I discover you have a diary for your losses,
requiems & for the birds teaching you to sing beyond lamentation.
I write in my manuscript beyond poems, & on the apex
is the war that chased us into exile, the mercies we received
from strangers after we took the route to safety, the road
a hunter stabbed & curved in a crescent by a buffalo
once called the boulevard of no return. The chemistry of the road
has changed since the day we walked it, since the day
we made music with our feet that’s not elegiac. We chorused,
wàhálà for who no get wings. The mallard didn’t mock us,
& we ran, kálukú pẹ̀lú ẹnì kejì rẹ̀. On that day, all those running
were in pairs. My twin – misfortune, a stubborn shadow
that followed me even in my sleep. God, can’t I dislodge
my plight into a sea? Do I have to pass through the eye of a needle
to spot your kingdom? We’re still breathing, but entered the ground
that wasn’t dug for our repose. All the mercies that I received;
I remember. The tribal mark of a boy who chased his cashmere goats
to the cold hands of night to give me shelter looked like God.
What are animals compared to a man? he thought.
I remember the willingness of the goats to give up their comfort
for a better world, & before they departed, they left a message:
the world will be better someday if we love & sacrifice, honestly.
Blessing Omeiza Ojo is a Nigerian poet based in Abuja, where he spends most of his time teaching creative writing, crafting poetry, and guiding children to literary and art festivals. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Frontier Poetry, Split Lip, The Shallow Tales, Cọ́n-scìò, The Poetry NND Column, The Deadlands, and elsewhere. He serves as the Abuja coordinator for the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation. His work has earned numerous honors, including semi-finalist recognition for the Jack Grapes Poetry Prize and mentions in Best of the Net. Other accolades include the Ambassador Special Prize in the 9th Korea-Nigeria Poetry Prize, the 2020 Artslounge Literature Teacher of the Year Award, the 2021 Words Rhymes & Rhythm Nigerian Teacher’s Award, the 2022 and 2023 HIASFEST Best Teacher Awards, the 2024 Eugenia Abu/Sevhage International Prize for Creative Nonfiction, and the 2025 Golden Award for Art Administrators. Beyond writing, sermonizing, and playing PES with friends, Omeiza enjoys daydreaming about paradise where he embraces his resurrected loved ones. He tweets at @Blessing_O_Ojo and shares his creative journey on Instagram as @ink_spiller_1.
