LAMENT: "WHAT OF THOSE NIGHTS?" BY SULAIMON KHALID
you promised to stay
when the candle ran out
and darkness walked in?
What of the promise
to watch the stars together,
counting them as they mount the sky,
and the moon as it stood still?
Who will finish the race we started,
till where we need to end
who will sit on the chair you left
and save the promise you made?
What do I do with the future
we kept postponing till morning,
and what do I tell the night
we promised
to see together?
How many nights will it take
to unlearn your name,
to forget how your lips danced
when you said, forever is our deal?
© SULAIMON KHALID
- Nigeria
The poem is a lyric poem because it expresses deep personal emotion in a reflective, intimate voice. It also functions as a modern elegy, mourning absence and broken promises without offering closure or consolation. Written in free verse, it draws on the tradition of lament through its repeated questions and imagery of night and loss.
Post a Comment