How To Be Sad
I don’t know how to be sad.
Tears die the instant they fall
off eyes’ cliff. I don’t know
how to breathe under
the roof of gloom
beyond the night
or spend my days
stalking shadows
I sleep with the lights off
so I can sprout—at dawn—like
a seed at the touch of sunlight.
I don’t know how to be sad.
Morning gives the heart
another chance to beat right.
I smear smiles over my face
like cheese spread on bread.
An optimist, chronically naive
—I chase bubbles of bliss
with the innocence of a child.
I don’t know how to give up!
Fix You
Inspired by Cold Play’s song of same title
When it’s only pain on the menu
& the sink is stuffed with septic sighs.
Chest-deep in debt
tears cannot repay, you
plug lachrymal drains
& accumulate hope.
When you feel so tired
but you can’t sleep…
Stand up, go
back to the kitchen.
Fix the plumbing.
Fix the menu.
Tantrum
Monday mornings, you
dress up for a dress down.
You return, corporate pig,
to toxic pools.
& every encounter
leaves you threadbare.
I reckon a smile is heavy
when the spirit is sour.
Who wears a poker face
on the battlefield?
Free the reins,
leave the bit in place.
Indulge with silence
where they anticipate
tantrums.
& more silence
in lieu of an apology.
Jide Badmus
Jide Badmus is an engineer, a poet inspired by beauty and destruction; he believes that things in ruins were once beautiful.
Author of several books including Obaluaye (FlowerSong Press, 2022) and What Do I Call My Love for Your Body (Roaring Lion Newcastle, 2022).
Badmus has curated/edited several anthologies. His poems have appeared in Agbowo, Maroko, Jalada Africa, Black Bough Poetry and elsewhere. A Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee.
He is founder of INKspiredng, Poetry Editor for Con-scio Magazine, mentor in the SprinNG Fellowship, and member, board of advisors for Libretto Magazine.
Jide writes from Lagos and tweets @bardmus
