In The Blankness Poem by Adeosun Olamide

Tonight I again stay,
In the mist, the smoke, the cigarette;
To sustain the warmth they love

Tonight I will again walk in-
In that tight, slender dress- hungry
-Filled with the beauty, the mask they love

Oh health, betrayer; this cough hide
Oh hunger, temptress; I need be,
I must;
Need be- the mask they love

And hit; tis pleasing,
And grope; friends, your friends
I let; for whips loneliness be worse-

Thus, the masks I wore,
Inside- hollowing scars, pains
Thus the masks- comely there, injury here-
Like the ulcer that brings my life short
Or the cancer that thrives in my lungs
Like the syphiliods that feeds on my tissues
But they little mattering too; for-
For I who fear not death than fear rejection

And to a dear, like me- on about this path
Tell the dear; know- about my chaos
Tell that a little smile, a little courtesy-
A little kindness is what beauty entails
Tell, some not roses, are oranges
And tell, that some dwell, - desiring oranges