I am the Tree of Life and Death

…the tree trunk saps tears from her scarred belly
& the wind wipes it off like drops of rain on windscreen

but when leaves wave worrying weights
off their neck,
you call it hallowed hallelujahs to the most high.

…the tree sits on the ground at the center of autumn space
like an old barren with scanty gray hair

praying rains to pour like
m i l l i o n s
of sperm at once,
but you call it descendant of the fig tree in her waiting.

…the tree picks her hymns from a shuffled playlist
& whispers wailing tones as her leaves paddle with waters

as winds shake her light like a market woman sieving grains,
but you sit your head under her shade & snore to the hymns.

OLALEKAN DANIEL KEHINDE

is a poet, essayist and storyteller. He has contributed to anthologies by Poets In Nigerian (PIN), and has works in ­The Peace Exhibits Journal and the 2020 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) anthology, The House That Built Me. He is a joint-winner of the May, June 2020 and October PIN 10-Day Poetry Challenge respectively, a finalist of 2020 NSPP and author of the top essay of the National Students Write Hack 2020. He was also shortlisted in PIN Food Poetry Contest (PFPC) 2020. Some of his works are yet to be published by other publications. Olalekan is presently a student of English and Literature (Education) at the University of Benin (UNIBEN). He loves to read and teach English Language. He writes from Ogun State, Nigeria.