A journal of art + literature engaging with nature, culture, the environment & ecology

Beatitude

Kunle Okesipe, Nigeria

 

Blessed are the tongues of grass that mark

The advent of rains with a signature of green, 

 

The needles of the spear grass in the warp

And weft of widower stubbles,

 

A file of palm trees and their epaulets of conical fronds,

A mob of hoodlum cowage in their ambuscade. 

 

Blessed is the subdued tang of basil in the mouth’s siesta

And the siesta of basil after a meal of the evening sun.

 

To you, old morning, without a memory of a leaf’s ash,

With a memory of smoke like a lost necklace,

 

Blessed is a joyous beginning, 

Like the first flowers of a pubescent tree. 

Kunle Okesipe is a Nigerian poet and playwright whose poetry has appeared in The Revolution (Relaunch) and a number of anthologies. He has also won awards for his plays. 

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