You lay in the cold earth and I think it unjust
how a creature like you rests in a doleful grave;
detached from this world but never forgotten,
I promise to remember you, beautiful one
And my thoughts of you: they hover around
with pixie-like wings they pass swiftly too
I mention to God of your loveliness and plead
for an abode above the heavens, safe with him
My daughters shall have skin the likes of hers
and in their little hearts: courage like that of hers,
pitch black hair that dazzle when damp like hers,
their speech full of life and wisdom just like hers
I shall narrate to them stories of a girl named Toyin,
a girl with dreams so gold that gold envied her
I’ll tell them how her skin shone under the sun
how she died fighting for its beauty to be noticed
All my life I shall remember you with my poetry
and I’ll send odes to the angels who look after you,
telling them how you were so powerful to destroy
so they hasten to send you to a daybreak paradise
'ODE TO OLUWATOYIN SALAU' won a prize in Teen Belle's online competition, the Sappho Writing Competition (held throughout June 2020), sponsored by http://feministstickerclub.com.