NO GOOD RELIGION (EXCERPT)

 “There is no ‘good’ religion. Religion is not some sort of auto-pilot software, which, once installed, equips the host-individual with ‘goodness’. On the contrary. Religion is a corpse’s shell—deriving life only from those who practice and promote it.

And for as long as human existence is flawed by the trademark duality of good and evil, no religion can ever truly be good, as it would always exist within the context of the motivations held by those who propagate them.”

- Aanuoluwapo John Adesina (2020)

FOR AYE

The thoughts and imaginations of sprightly children are carved into the face of the beach. And though the sea might wash them away—these compositions—forever remain in the consciousness of every sand grain.

Aanuoluwapo John Adesina (2020)

GO OVER BY THE LAKE

Go over by the lake you fowl beast!
Fetch me my soul that you have drowned beneath the water lilies.
Take out your talons that you have dug into my calf,
And let my blood seep into the earth, that I may rise again.

Save me from this pain that pummels my heart
And deliver me into the merciful embrace of Lucifero.
Take me to my final resting place,

That great big hole where you bury your adversaries and friends alike.

Drown the mucus that has collected in my ears,
That I may hear the sweet voice of my mother once more.
Tell her I shall miss her sorely,
But her son has gone home.

Aanuoluwapo John Adesina - 2020

ODIRAH ỊHỤNANYA M

“My friends and enemies call me candy”
stamped the beginning of our correspondence.
Your sweet voice had the consistency of brandy,
soothing my disfigured heart and curing my despondence.

My world was illuminated by your gracious arrival—
but this light warred against the tempest within.
Like a tumbleweed, you staggered into a long-standing trial
but toward a more forgiving course must I now allow you spin.

I have eaten the berries of your love’s winsome shrub
and partaken of the drink sourced from the stream of nonchalance.
Now, what is left of your love is but a decaying stub,
created from my inhospitable response.

My world is now unlighted as it was before—
waiting for another damsel to be washed ashore.

Aanuoluwapo John Adesina - 2020