DISTANCE AS A METAPHOR

bodies are dropping to the ground like rain

i do not understand
what that means, but
i do know that these days,
the world is obsessed with news of sneezing,
of breath, of               death.

you get too close to people
and
you become a body inviting your own doom…

bodies are dropping,
and i am here in my room
staring into the television,
watching the newscaster help me count them
while i think of
distance as a metaphor for survival.

my neighbour who said
he can’t keep a long distance relationship
is now loving from afar
because his life means so much to him.

also,
there is a boy out there, distancing himself
from his creator,                   from his purpose.

i want to go out there
to touch the helm of my lover’s cloth just once,
but i am afraid,
this longing might damage my lung.

even if the messiah was on earth as at now,
he wouldn’t let the woman with the issue of blood

touch him.

By Temidayo Jacob

Biography:

Temidayo Jacob is a Sociologist who writes from the North Central part of Nigeria. He is passionate about espousing the conflict between the individual and the society, especially through identity, sexuality and conformity. He is the CEO of foenix press. He is also the author of Beauty Of Ashes. Temidayo’s work has appeared and is forthcoming on Rattle, Outcast Magazine, Lucent Dreaming, The Temz Review, Peeking Cat Poetry, Kissing Dynamite, and others. You can reach him on Twitter @BoyUntouched.