(for Jean-Pierre Adams, in coma
for almost four decades before his passing)
What landscapes emerge when the spirit goes
for a walk? I ask because I do not know
what fragment of you was anchored here.
To be happy, I should say you were happy,
but I keep standing by a window
overlooking the world, holding back
the birds in your eyes so the silence won’t
claim you. This time, your lover’s voice,
always reaching like a hand, finds and pulls you
from anywhere. And beyond the threshold,
everything waits to be named.
Samuel A. Betiku is a Nigerian writer from the city of Ondo, South West Nigeria. His works have appeared in journals and anthologies, including Rattle, The Offing, The Temz Review, Trampset, The Christian Century, Strange Horizons, Agbowó, Libretto, Lunaris Review, Shallow Tales Review and elsewhere.
