Taofeek Ayeyemi


The Inner Temple

After reading again the Masnavi of Rumi and reciting the Diiwan of Sheikh Ibrahim Niyas, I sip from the cup of coffee I had placed in front of me. I begin to picture how my bedchamber would look like when I have my own house: I see a praying mat, an amber rosary, a one-man bed, an oil lamp, a rechargeable lamp, a potted flower by the window, an evil-eye hizb/hirz hanging on the wall amidst the rosaries father gave me, a box at the corner of the room for my cats, a walnut desk with selected books in its drawer, books by me, Rumi, Sheikh Ibrahim Niyas, Shams Tebriz, Imam Ghazal, and Faridudeen Attar filling up a bookshelf, and books of diverse fields, especially law & haiku, dominating the other shelves. I sigh. I sigh. These are what matter in a Sufi bedchamber.

cherry blossoms . . .
my yoga shadow leans
to my right

Taofeek Ayeyemi (fondly called Aswagaawy) is a Nigerian lawyer and writer. His works have appeared or forthcoming in the QuillS, Lucent Dreaming, Frogpond among others. He won an Honourable Mention Prize in the 2020 Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest and 2019 Morioka International Haiku Contest.
 
 
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