Tomorrow is a million reasons to be alive

After Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto

Today may end without all in my

heart gathered in my hands,

but my heart does not grow

ennui. My heart does not grow

ennui, because I believe in tomorrow

—& I give thanks because I still have

life in me. I believe in tomorrow,

because the sky will be accessible,

again. I will reach for it & it won’t deny

me. I will hover around like birds

& I won’t be deprived of the beauty

of the sky we all own. I believe in

tomorrow, because the sun, too, 

will come again. I will reach for it & it 

won’t deny me. Tomorrow is a promise 

for a dream that never ceases

to show up, like dawn. Tomorrow is a

million reasons to be alive. 

Together we make firewood 

In the beginning was love, & the love was

with us, & the love was us. The same love we were laid upon. We wouldn’t have laid the foundation in the absence of love. And if we do, we will pick our remains, 

scattered all over the earth the day the wind blows. The night a tinge of her love got into me, I had no holes in me, & so, I did not leak like a basket. Instead, I held it close & let it seep into every edge of my soul, for a quiet enrichment of the parts that long for her. I am aware that she has settled in me the same way salt settles in soup. I admit love is a flame because my heart is burning, & I am aware that together we made the firewood. I admit love is as essential as air, because it keeps me whole. Today, as this love burns, let the fire increase day by day, let not our nakedness quench its furnace.

Opeyemi Oluwayomi is a violinist, a graphics designer, a member of Hilltop Creative Art Foundation, a final year English & Literary student of University of Ibadan. His works have appeared or are forthcoming on Eye to the Telescope, Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears, Spillwords, Brittle Paper, Shallow Tales Review, Ekstasis Magazine, Eboquil Magazine, SpringNG, and elsewhere. He was the second-runner-up winner of the Shuzia Poetry Competition, 2023 (Journey of the Soul), shortlisted for IS&T’s Pick of the Month, 2025. He holds NCE in English & Music, from Federal College of Education, Abeokuta. Social media handles: Joseph O. Oluwayomi