Fadairo Tesleem
Fadairo Tesleem (TPC vi) is a Nigerian poet and a member of The Poetic Collective. He was on the shortlist for 2022's Spectrum Poetry Contest, Abubakar Gimba's Prize for Nonfiction (2023) & Africa Teen Writers' Award (poetry category). His poems are published in The B'K Magazine, Geez Magazine, Dillydoun Review, Protean Poetry, Kreative Diadem, Consequence Forum, & host of other publications. Tesleem is an alumnus of the Olongo Africa Poetry workshop & SpriNG Writers' Fellowship.
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In shaa Allah (ii)
(after Danusha Lameris)
From my
inception, it's been bad to prophesize
drought and even worse to believe
famine ever existed. In shaa Allah is
the only feasible rope of hope my
people hold unto. There is always
a foul smell of blood &
plentiful ashes after every war.
In shaa Allah, our sons shall return from the battlefield,
weighing songs of victory on their
lips. In shaa Allah, may these withered
flowers sprout again. May fate bring back
our husbands lost to the winds.
Every bit of what our parents prayed against
happened in their lifetime:
May our descendants live long,
so long to attend our funerals. As
a child, I grew up watching my parent—our
parents—mumble these words: in shaa Allah,
there will be enough rain this year &
well sit to watch our children dance
the night away.