Music-Borne

by ENIOLA ABDULROQEEB AROWOLO

Ever stunned by your voice—
Rasp & urgent, 
Stridulating the dark
Punctured with moonlight. 
The world, worn out, beckons 
At you: hands on the harp. 
Listless upon the bed, I shift
The curtain, permitting the air
Take charge of my scalding flesh. 
Again, your voice prods
The reticence of night. 
Little insect, little cricket: 
My language has failed me. 
I have no ode 
To sing you my gratitude. 
I falter, fall short of the splendor, 
The same way I mistook 
Your antennas for the locust’s.  
Little cricket, little insect:
I am all but a poet tonight
Yet I reek of solitude.