
Author’s Biography

Rasaq Malik Gbolahan is a Nigerian poet and essayist. With Ọ̀rẹ́dọlá Ibrahim, Malik is the co-founder of Àtẹ́lẹwọ́, the first digital journal devoted to publishing works written in the Yorùbá language. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Agbowó.
Poem
When I close my eyes and fall asleep
That is when I dream
Entering an entirely different world
Where there are different souls
Having a great time playing with them
The fun never seems to end
There's no limit to the time up their
It's very clear and everybody cares
The adventure and the view is to die for
It's like being a little timetraveller, in the sky you know
The people are friendly and there's no violence
Their lives are so hectic that that they go about in silence
Another world a place that's perfect
Boundless, breathtaking, Celestial
And when you wake up, you back in reality
In a place where there are crimes and mortality
But Hopefully this will change
And everything just like it was in my dream be perfect and great.
Content
Rasaq Malik, in his poem, expresses his regrets about the happenings of the current world he is in – the children are subject to deep grieving and mourning about the passing away of their parents, but the parents never get to go through the grief for their children.
Theme
Violence and brutality seem to be the main concern in the environment depicted in the poem. In that, the poet narrates the horrifying experiences of children being hunted down in the streets and being mobbed to death.
Setting
In Another World
Message
All of us wanting a perfect life, so that we’re keep trying our best to have it. Based on his dream, he wanted to have a perfect life for his future children, he wants a children that wouldn’t suffer at anything and freely experience the freedom without getting any problem and enjoy their lives like they’re the only people who lived. He wants to give a better life for his future children that he didn’t experience when he was in his youth. In that case, he is a great human being. In addition, we people needs to be grateful at anything we have right now. If you’re rich and can buy anything, be thankful. If you have a complete family, be thankful. Remember that life is short.
21st Century
By: Alyssa Nicole Delgado and Rhea Mae Dela Cruz