For the air that bears the burden of a body. by Olusoji Obebe (Nigeria, 19)

After Hussain Ahmed's "Flight"
​

​a body reincarnates into a bird
& flies without perching.

a body diffuses—in the turmoil--
as fire papers, trying to escape gravity.

every day, the air takes from us:
our prayers which never return answered;

​our songs which wander far away
& fade into the ears of vacuum;

our secrets that we think are still secrets;
& our breath. even, our last breath.

every day, the air takes from us.
it's a carrier of burdens;

when burdens are taken
from us, we're left

dwindling down in the air like a leaf. but then,
is this lightness not enough burden for us to cure?


​
(To the memory of the Ethiopia Airlines Crash victims, 2019)​




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Olusoji Obebe is a law student at the University of Benin & a Nigerian creative writer. He's a BoTN nominee & 2nd Runner-up for Poetically Written Prose 2022. His works are published in local and international mags and journals which include Brittle Paper, Salamander, Pepper Coast Lit, Morrab Library, Lumiere Review, Kalahari Review, TSTR Review & elsewhere.