Blank Valentine Poem by Opeyemi Dedayo

I sit on the terraces of happenstances
Gleaning reasons for the cruelty of latent love
I withold my leaning from the writ of hallowed desires
Knowing tomorrow's pang is mired in present joy


I am an eager attendant for lifelong oath
Fretting on the ills of negative pick
The one to yield frolicsome seeds
Waylaid in my land's armless cuddle
Waylaid by indefensible jitter of latter plague


While parks swell with lovers
Moaning their innocence away
In spite of the pallid time
I play intangible solitaire on my couch
Bereft of lullaby in the surge
Of implacable insomnia...


Now that last ember of my warmth flickers
And ashes become the sole inheritor
Of my heart
Love must mean the subtle squandering of self
For another.

(14.02.11)