SWALLOWTAIL AT THE NIGHT GARDEN —Abdulrazak Salihu

SWALLOWTAIL AT THE NIGHT GARDEN

By Abdulrazak Salihu

I believe I carried the

Snapdragon out of the woods

And named it a wild flower.

There’s a drip in the wind

Into your eyes

For girls your age

I poured a rock into being 

And it clouded my head.

There are crystals in sand

And flower-perfume 

By your chin,

And freckles of dust

Like saltwater could swallow worms.

In my last rite

I’m still barricading my eyes

Even as light falls as petals 

Of warmth from a blue moon.

Abdulrazaq Salihu is a 17 year old Nigerian poet and writer.He is a member of the hilltop creative arts foundation and was the winner of the December edition of the splendors of Dawn poetry foundation poetry and short story contest . He is part of the panel for the Nigeria Review(TNR) .He was shortlisted for both categories of the Nigerian prize for teen authors (poetry and prose)where his poetry manuscript Constellations won the poetry category and his collection of short stories Hiccups was the first runner up in the prose category.He has been published internationally and nationally in different magazines and journals like pine cone review, Konya Shamsrumi, stories from the heart, Amulet poetry, world voices magazine, Icefloe magazine, conceit magazine and more. He has also gained recognitions In anthologies around the world from SHAGAZ, to Christmas tide,waa re kisan,Rio grandevalley international poetry festival and more. He is a two time winner of the Most valuable contestant (male) at HIASFEST and has also won other prizes in categories like on the spot poetry,spoken words, and on the spot essay. He was interviewed in 2021 by Zee Aslam of the Northern literary forum which was published on the campus watch. if Abdulrazaq Salihu is not thinking about life,then he’s probably thinking of better ways to approach Minna young scientists forum a science platform he founded for young scientists.