Say Cheese & Watch Your Head by Ayòdéjì Israel (Nigeria, 22)

Say cheese. Let the seven heavens come to your
aid. Touch the sun and kiss the colour of the moon.
Open your window and let it be day. Look for a linen
and a scarlet, stitched by pretty palms of a calm tailor
who shelters his heart like a dove. Snatch the frag--
rance of the sun. Invite the odour of the rain. Lay it
upon your bed. I will be there when the day ages.
I will be there at dawn, before the sky defines itself.

I will be there when the wind is violent than the river.
I will be behind your door and beside the heart of your
chaos. Even when you are asleep. Even behind your
pillowcase. I will be there before your breakfast; be--
fore the burden of the day sits on your neck; before
your radio announce the death of a young man, inno--
cent like the flesh of your palms. My child, I am your
mother. Look at your back. What did you see? Like
my promise, I will be there when the earth begins
to shake and the clouds begin to wither. When the
day goes off and you are alone. I will not become
a bird and vanish. I will not be my country. I will plant
a hole in your palm for God's protection to germinate.



​Ayòdéjì Israel is a poet, writer and editor. He is from the Southwestern part of Nigeria. His works have appeared/forthcoming on Livina Press, Defunct Magazine, Lumiere Review, Kreative Diadem, OneArtPoetry, Arts Lounge and antinarrative zine. You can find him on Twitter @Ayo_einstein.