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I’m a leaf
in the heart
of sturdy storms
& cruel embrace
of recurrent tides—
seaweed strummed,
dancing to root music
from ocean’s bottom.

Your name means joy
but your implacable
schemes sour my spirit.
You’re prosecutor & judge
—the devil’s accomplice.
You loom in perpetuity
at the entrance of dawn
with a plot to kill the sun.

But I’m an atom of God
& you’re a mere irritant
— eczema on the skin of time.

Ungod

straw heart
on the altar of knavery

song of hay
on grey concrete

dignity at the mercy
of matchstick temper

o bald god
i plead your thunder

o paper dragon
i plead your fire

o little coward
i plead your choir

Jide Badmus is an engineer and a poet inspired by beauty and destruction; he believes that things in ruins were once beautiful. He is the author of four books, including Obaluaye (FlowerSong Press, 2022) and What Do I Call My Love for Your Body (Roaring Lion Newcastle, 2022), and several chapbooks. Badmus has curated and edited several anthologies, and his poems have appeared in Agbowo, The Muse, Maroko, Memento Anthology, Jalada Africa, No Tokens, Afrocritik, Black Bough Poetry Anthology and elsewhere. He is founder of INKspiredng, Poetry Editor for Con-scio Magazine, a mentor in the SprinNG Fellowship, and sits on the board of advisors for Libretto Magazine. Jide writes from Lagos, Nigeria. He tweets @bardmus