i.
the truth is this: i used to walk around with a pennant
in hand—an emblem of my misery. content warning:
reverse midas touch. please, do not come too close.
this body, a cabin of cries with no transcription.
ii.
because all i ever want is sunbathing
in tenderness with my loved ones—alive & full of joy.
our black & brown faces illuminated by the evening
lamps in a space full of earthenwares.
believe me,
it could be that sweet & simple—painting caricatures
of your friends on the faces of unglazed terracottas.
but the world is on a spinner wheel
& everyone we love
is sprinting at a million mile per hour towards a dream.
iii.
in the heat of the holocaust, that cost me my smile
& the glow in my eyes, i found a language beautiful
enough to make a chorus out of the fire.
iv.
i sit by the potter’s wheel—hands smeared with clay—
smooth & sticky. look at my hands: palms & ten
fingers dancing to the rhythm of a self made joy.
which means the therapy is working. which means
sometimes you create your own music, your own
sonic energy & dance. dance till you can taste the salt
of your own sweat.
v.
come friend. sit with me. show me
the ocean you’ve had to swim across.
& i will show you all the minefields
i’ve had to crawl over to get here.
Sodïq Oyèkànmí is a Nigerian poet and dramaturge. A 2022/23 Poetry Translation Centre (UK) UNDERTOW Fellow. He is a 2024 Best of The Net winner. His works are published/ forthcoming in Frontier Poetry, Longleaf Review, Lucent Dreaming, Modern Poetry in Translation, North Dakota Quarterly, Passages North, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry Wales and Taco Bell Quarterly.
Contributor’s Note:
I wrote this poem during my final year at the University of Ibadan, a time marked by the tiredness of intensive rehearsals, projects, and preparations for National Youth Service Corp mobilization. While sitting in the departmental library with my friend Tọpẹ Àjàyí, we shared our experiences and coping mechanisms for the physical and emotional stress of being thespians and citizens in a country that constantly targets us. He showed me an experimental work he was painting—"to pick something so mundane that we never really pay attention to represent the idea of family, relationships, and communal experiences." We also reflected on the power of art to shape our understanding of ourselves. Inspired by his experimental artwork, I wrote this poem as an interpretation and response to his work. This ekphrasis is a testament to our ability to work through the psychological, emotional, and physical stress that threatens to consume us. I dedicate this poem to Tọpẹ, one of the most genuine friends I've intentionally chosen to share life's journey with.
Editor’s Note:
Sodïq Oyèkànmí's “ekphrasis x: earthenware” stands out as a powerful testament to the human spirit’s capacity to endure and create beauty from pain. What captivates me most is how Oyèkànmí navigates the tension between desire and reality in this five-part poem. It begins with raw and simple honesty: “i used to walk around with a pennant / in hand—an emblem of my misery.” This isolation soon evolves into a longing for connection: “sunbathing / in tenderness with my loved ones.” I love, too, how the poem’s structure mirrors its content, with varying line lengths and indentations creating a visual rhythm that echoes the uneven terrain of the healing process. Oyèkànmí transforms personal struggle into a bridge of empathy: “come friend. sit with me. show me / the ocean you’ve had to swim across.” This invitation to shared vulnerability reminds us that resilience isn’t just about individual survival, but about collective healing.