Absence is Darkness
written by: Opeyemi Oluwayomi
You were absent
for a week,
& your absence
feels like
darkness turned
to me, thick
& heavy,
like the air
before a storm.
I wondered what
I was in it,
groping for walls
that weren’t
there. I trembled,
my feet unsure,
conscious of
placement.
Now that
you’re back,
you
turned your presence
at me
like we turn
it to our
home &
echo disappears,
like the sun
turns its face
on the earth
& its brightness
lights the days
ahead of our feet.
Opeyemi Oluwayomi is a Nigerian writer, an English & Literary student of University of Ibadan. His works have appeared or are forthcoming on Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears, Art Lounge Journal, 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). He holds NCE in English & Music, from Federal College of Education, Abeokuta.
Latest posts by Opeyemi Oluwayomi (see all)
- Absence is Darkness - September 17, 2025
