Partly because my stepfather-to-be three counties away
texted her good morning and partly because the radio
announced the reunion tour happening this upcoming spring,
she is giggling with that laugh in her voice that is
recognizable even through the other end of a phone call.
Yes, that one. The one where you can tell there are
dimples making golden creeks of light on their face
and that excites you. To be hitched to a forever
that can appear unconsciously, without a halo on
the third finger of your hand, without worry of this
being a redundant exercise. Lately upon waking up,
I drink almost the daily allotted amount of water that is
needed by the body to flush itself of toxins. Mostly
because I am thankful to be without the penumbras
of stress. Mostly because I remember my whiskey
hangovers, the stamina it takes to rise anew and
unflinching from the evening’s pretenses. Mostly because
tense is what we tend to be when we do not tend to
our needs. And a good night’s rest isn’t something she has
referenced since I was ten and we made family errands
out of her telling me to grab allocated ziploc bags full
of pennies near her purse to walk in and pay the cashier
for the gas we would need to get home. When I ask her how
she slept last night, she responds oh you know, the usual
so I serenade her with her favorites while pinching myself.
Olatunde Osinaike is a Nigerian-American poet born to the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a 23-year-old male, still learning and eager nevertheless. An alumnus of Vanderbilt University, his most recent work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Apogee, HEArt Online, Hobart, Glass, Anomaly, Puerto del Sol, and Columbia Poetry Review, among other publications. You can find him online at www.olatundeosinaike.com.