Once This Is Over
by Seun Lari-Williams
Once this is over,
I shall run into the arms of each morning
and take in the deepest breath.
My eyes will make friends with birds and flowers
and cars and buildings and clothes.
I will fill my nostrils with the boisterous
smell of bread from the bakeries
in Bavaria.
My teeth will shine brightly at everyone
who looks my way.
I will wave frantically at strangers.
I will give the warmest handshake anyone
has ever known.
My skin will hug the rays of the sun.
When the cold winds come,
it will not complain.
I will dance Bata with the rain.
I will make the night sky my ceiling
and swim with the moon and the stars.
Once the iron gates are open,
Once these walls are broken,
I will be free again.
I will walk the streets like a
proud king.
Once this is over,
You will see a new me.
Source: From the Isolation Issue (September 2020)
Once This Is Over
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SEUN LARI-WILLIAMS was born in Lagos on 28th April 1987. He is a lawyer, poet, and flutist. His first anthology – Garri for Breakfast, was longlisted for the 2017 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature. His poem, ‘A Little Violence’, won the second prize in the 2019 Guardian Newspaper Poetry Competition. He is married to his best friend, Feyi and they reside in Munich, Germany where he is a DAAD Scholar for a masters’ degree in intellectual property law.
