"Devotion" and "Broda, look wetin you don cause" by Ayoola Goodness Olanrewaju

Devotion

‘After this manner therefore pray ye’ Matthew 6:9 (KJV)

I hide

Behind

The

Mouth

Of

My

Son

And whisper,

God, are you listening to me?

Broda, look wetin you don cause

The look of my boss looks at me, a questioning only an

Option of a plague is the right answer.

There is only one face: the one he sees every time. The fraud

You represent in the news.

I am useful. I honor myself with labor. Yet, I cannot deny

The weight, the punctuating doubts when his voice commends me.

You are the reason; my pure honesty is embroidered in

Probation. You are the reason,

They say when my kontri people give honesty a face, it is a mask.

You are the reason; I am crippled by elephant shame.

I falter: my voice in smithereens, when they ask,

“Where are you from?”

You are the reason why I cannot dance, when Diaspora music plays.

He will ask me now, “If I pay you,

Won’t you run away?” He will ask me again,

“If I send

You to America, won’t you run away?”

The third time:

The hurt is deep, the wound continues to fester.

Goodness Olanrewaju Ayoola is a Nigerian poet and teacher of English who reaches out to poetry as escapism from the contentions within and around him. His poetry appeared recently in Hellebore, Mainsqueeze, Querencia, Periferias Journal and elsewhere. He is a Best of the Net Award Nominee and author of Meditations (WRR, 2016). Say hi to him @GoodnessLanre