in sundry times, i mouth my prayers
in the knees of sleep, burning incense from
my wild conceit to heaven’s post.
in this poem. in this prayer i say:
dear God, i have ‘mosqued’ the earth
looking for your face…(eyes closing in sleep).
my body as a flesh & blood saunters in grief.
it carries weakness as a hump in its back…(changing positions).
every drop of my blood is wallowing in shit.
my sweat…(sniffs), every heat puffing out is…(yawns)…greasy in sin.
the feet of my heart are ‘walking’ in trios with misdeeds…(yawns again).
lord. please. kiss me your strength
as to overcome temptations…(rubs the eye).
don’t let me be betrayed by this sleep…(yawns & crawls on the prayer mat).
please forgive me…(blinks) of all my transgressions…(yawns again).
protect me from all evil. (blinks for the last time).. amen…(yawns & pass out).

About the Poet

Tobun Pelumi Omofolawe, pen named Voice of an elect, is 3/4 of the Next Generation Poets (NGP), an award-winning poet, an essayist, a reader, and a Law student at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). He is an 18 year old writer, who sees creative writing as a revelation between the soul and the body. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria, where he wishes the cologne of his pen would spread out to people in diverse places. His works have been published twice by My Woven Poetry Magazine. He was also a joint-winner of Poets in Nigeria (PIN) June 2021 10-Days Poetry Challenge. When he isn’t writing, he is reading. You can say hi to him on IG & Twitter @PelumiTobun.