Tuesday Poem by Efe Paul Azino

ODE TO LAUGHTER

I
We loved in three cities
danced in neon lights
between stripper poles and a Deejay
Unforgivable sin
in the belly of an unforgiving beast
we crawled through traffic
and raced through sheets
argued the veracity of opinions on Twitter
somewhere between the Atlantic and no pants
We crossed bridges into the Mainland
and burnt inhibitions behind us
limb over limb
surrounded by Lagos
beautiful and angry
breaking and healing itself
We whispered secrets into each other’s mouths
somewhere between a half-empty bottle of vodka
and half-full dreams
You find a poem in my beard
I sing an ode to your laughter

II
Your phone, boom box and time machine
opens a portal
and takes us back to that city
where we first kissed
somewhere between a throne and a microphone
You ditch you lover to come hear me
sing songs of protest and love
surrounded by privilege and aspiration
here where history struts mediocrity
a city haunted
by the ghosts of dreams and dreams and dreams
We wrap our dreams in a joint
and mingle our hopes with its smoke
You and I
Sisyphus against destiny
an old-fashioned bohemian love story
at war with reality

III
We loved in three cities
somewhere between the heavens and the earth
upon an ancient rock
in the city of an iron god
We conflate heaven and fire
surrender to gravity
and crash back to the earth
where the roofs are rusty like history
and the people mask their struggles
by wearing the sun on their faces
a city of bards and rebels
we rebel against flesh and spirit
and hover in purgatory
our love is death
death if we see again
and death if we don’t
We loved in three cities
and counting

 

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This poem is taken from Efe Paul Azino’s forthcoming chapbook Ode to Laughter.