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"The Darkness Shall Swallow the Light" by Abioye Mahsudat

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September 15th, 2026

Young Poets Magazine

The Darkness Shall Swallow the Light

by Abioye Mahsudat

Have you ever bared your heart in search of the right words?
Have you ever screeched with your pen on paper like a dying horse?
Have you ever run into the unknown, thirsty with desperation?
i know, and i believe, so i can tell you haven’t.
 
for if you had,
your eyes might have read my story,
your brain would have surrendered and let your heart take control,
you would have guessed it, 
no, you would have felt it,
through my desperate tongue,
you would have silently known.
 
but, and yet, you see nothing.
you fail to recognize
the claws of a quiet darkness tightening around my neck,
daring my tongue to speak or to choke on silence,
daring my heart to beat or to never be heard,
to confess its hold over me,
to confess the shackles laid across my path.
 
you don’t see it,
you can’t grasp it.
and if you ever wish to,
you must close your mind
and thus open your heart.
for only then will you truly see,
the darkness that swallowed my light.

About the Poet
Abioye Mahsudat resides in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria.
Read the poet's biography and Young Poets World publications on Abioye Mahsudat's Artist Page.

Young Poets Collection
This poem is also featured in Young Poets Collection #3, published in the Young Poets World Library.

Previously published in Young Poets Magazine:
I Feel Nothing
by Samuel Mendoza

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