Yesterday was my birthday.
My twenty fifth.
I wanted freedom
From despair
And longing
And wanting a thing that never chooses you
I’m trying to write about happiness
How it never chooses me
And how it treats me like a debtor
But I don’t want to write it this way
In the fifth line of another poem
I’ve written this before
But it’s true
And it’s real
I keep chasing a thing
That never chases me.

Yesterday was my birthday
My twenty fifth.
I wanted some clean air
My hands spread left and right on a lonely beach
With heavy waves
I wanted to feed some ice cream to the sea shells
To run and tumble in the sand
I wanted love
Not the one over the phone
The kind that pulls you closer and breathes you in

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Abidemi is an emerging writing and tech enthusiast who lives in the bubbling city of Lagos Nigeria. Her work has only appeared in the journal, ‘writing in a woman’s voice’ and ‘Tell your story’. When she’s not writing poetry or fiction, she listens to Daughter. You can find Abidemi at The Podcast Blog here.