Desirable

Poet's note: While studying for my postgraduate degree at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna State, I came across Abdullahi Shoaib’s poem “Pretty Ugly”. I was intrigued by the poet’s creativity, especially the reverse-reading structure, and the emotional transformation that it carried. As someone who enjoys challenging himself creatively, I decided to attempt a poem using a similar technique while expressing a different emotional reality. That challenge gave birth to “Desirable” on 20th April, 2022. In the process, I decided to dedicate the poem to Onyedikachi Shaquille Johnson, a favourite mentee of mine whose life journey at the time had already taken him through many hills and valleys. He was one of the most hardworking and determined young men I knew, constantly putting in effort and striving for success, yet life often seemed unusually unkind to him. Repeated disappointments and setbacks gradually made him look down on himself to the point of almost giving up on trying altogether. As his mentor, I understood those emotions, but I also saw something beyond the frustrations of the moment. I saw a deeply valuable and desirable young man whose future would one day shine brighter than the seasons of ill-luck surrounding him. More than merely writing a poem, I wanted to help him see in himself what I could already see in him. At the same time, the poem speaks to everyone who has ever questioned their worth because life did not unfold the way they hoped. Sometimes people appear strong outwardly while internally struggling with feelings of failure, rejection, inadequacy, and emotional exhaustion. Desirable is a reflection of that silent fight between self-rejection and self-acceptance. In the forward reading there is insecurity, doubt and hopelessness, while in the reverse reading there is affirmation, dignity, value and hidden strength. That contrast is the soul of the poem. Desirable is a reminder to me that perspective can change everything. Sometimes the same life, the same person, the same experiences can look completely different depending on the direction from which they are seen.