DIRGE: "LIGHT OUT" BY DANIEL OLUWAPELUMI

Night by night sit me out

Onwards I look, into space staring

Flick by flick the candle burns out

Bereaved am I, my eyes teary

Speech left me and my tongue's tied 

Your memories so close like you're behind the curtain

Shivers of the night running through my spine

My sanity, I'm trying so hard to maintain

Stride by stride your presence departed

Battled with savages you couldn't contain

Bite by bite they chewed up our happiness

When out he was striving to sustain

Blooming and thriving was your sprout

Till reapers with sickle in hand turned out

Swoosh-swoosh they struck out

And suddenly, it's LIGHT OUT.

© DANIEL OLUWAPELUMI

- Nigeria 

-20/10/23- in memory of 12/10/23

AUTHOR-ANALYSIS:

The poem is a tetrad, in which the poetic personae in the first two quartiles is battling with accepting the reality of the protagonists death. The third quartile has the poetic personae referencing the many troubles the protagonist had to face while on a path to making a living (marlian records saga). The final quartile has the poetic personae extolling the virtues of versatility and adeptness of the protagonist before he met his tragic demise.