By Kolawole Olaiya, Nigeria (*This poem is dedicated to my late father. it was inspired by the sudden news of his transition.)
i've always thought that those who traverse the length and breadth of the earth would know how far the distance is...
drenched by the ice navigating the contours of my shivering shoulders; some dwelling on the valleys of my bags in bits, others settling in the creases of my ruffled muffler
i traverse the distance, smiling, threading delicately on slippery pellets cascading from the sky's moody eyes dabbing the earth in snow-white.
and on getting home, i peeped out of my mouldy room savouring the mixed joys of surviving another distance.
can even those who travel the length and breadth of the earth conquer distances' chameleonic antics?...
i have seen distance turn prince to pauper, subjecting stately souls to the slovenly hands of melancholy
i have seen teachers turned learners of new accents to bridge the gulfs created by distance
i have seen distance tame the hawk and the dove forcing them to cohabit peacefully.
i have seen distance fashion new tongues from myriad people yoked together by choice in Toronto
having cruised the length and breadth of the earth in the twilight of my wanderings, i thought i understood distances' riddles and knew how far the distance was
until the phone - subverter of long distances - that misty morning, brought me news of another distance that had been untimely bridged:
my father, horsetail in both hands, has suddenly navigated a new distance; danced to join his ancestors without leaving a word on how i can transverse the travails of this painful distance.
who really can conquer distances and understand how distant the distance is?
要借別人的哀愁來理解理自己的茫然,就是我跟自己最遠的距離。
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die." ~ Blade Runner 1982 ~