ADESIYAN OLUWAPELUMI

DECEMBER 3, 2022

Ode to Fall

after Kaveh Akbar

Again. I am here.

At the familiar verge of sinking.

Deep. Down. Into the end of an abyss.

And the epitaph says.

The end of solitude.

Is the beginning of solitude.

So Call me Autumn. Fall.

Call me wither-boy.

Do not. Call. My gloom. Winter.

Make me worship.

At the iceberg of my god.

But let my tears be fur.

Say I am a cougar.

In weak skin.

But even your fear. Lies in the depth.

Of your eyes.

Adesiyan Oluwapelumi,TPC XI,writes from Ibadan, Nigeria .He received an Honourable Mention in the international Metamorphosis Writing Contest.He was also shortlisted in the August-September 2022 edition of the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest.His works are featured/ forthcoming in Brittle Paper, Eunoia Review, Snowflake Magazine, Salamander Ink, Lumiere Review, CultureCult Press, Icefloe Press & elsewhere. He is currently a Poetry Reader at Kitchen Table Quarterly.