sef adeola, The Foreboding, digital illustration, 2025

I think
how jealous of man standing in the light
more jealous still of my kin drinking deep
How beautiful their lips run, blood
streaking like the tarnished dusk
Proud monsters

And I hiding from the stars
not man, not beast
just hiding, hiding

They call them horrors
how easy my envy
to pin a badge
and pump one’s chest
a label proud on their breasts

My sisters fight, hunt hunters
They dance like moon and sun
graceful in the parts that belong
my sisters and them

And tactless me waiting
to be staked or starve

Because I was neither after all

sef adeola is a Nigerian Illustrator & Textile Designer who uses cave art & Yoruba textile design motifs in his work. He has been published in magazines such as Lolwe, Minority Africa, The Believer etc. You can see more of his illustrations at sefadeola.com & follow him on social media: @sefadeola .