Dayò Ayílárá writes from Abuja, Nigeria. His poetry focuses on nature, the beauty in pain, hope, love, and loss.

To measure your smile

i will take my traverse up the mountain range

child of gladness, your dawning changes attire

like white weather soaked in yellow and black dye

with rainbows of ropes to tie

i will take my going far

i will avoid the ocean; it ripples repeatedly

and widens and contrasts – i do not even know what it says

but i know it sings, something about your name

Àdùké

i will avoid the white land

it lacks the loamy of your skin

and the green that this country has been

belittles your harvest of joys

when i get to the mountain range

i will ask the sun

why he’s still crawling while your smile

runs miles in my head?

why are there no rays to measure your smile?

once

i journeyed in a lady’s head before i crashed

and now you smile has saved me from the trash.

Contributor’s Bio

Dayò Ayílárá is a lawyer, business consultant, cartoonist, graphics designer, and calligrapher. He writes from Abuja, Nigeria. His poetry focuses on nature, the beauty in pain, hope, love, and loss. Dayò Ayílárá is his name and not a pseudonym.

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