Flights for Peace by Praise (Okunade) Ayowole

Lives folded in boxes,

dreams zipped in bags,

hanging on a thread of hope

that each landing unlocks a better uncertainty.

Missiles left behind,

we duck as flight doors open.

A prayer slips through smoky clouds;

a stopover offers a fleeting sigh.

A step on the stairs, relief withdrawn.

Sisters with no smiles in sight,

brothers burdened with bricks and boulders.

Walls built within homelands,

tribes and tongues bound in hate.

Aboard again, we dip and hover,

the greenery below whetting our appetite.

But peace is fleeting:

the earth quakes, nature roars.

Waters rage across plains and valleys,

licking them dry, her fury quenched.

Legs cramped, backs arched,

we seek a landing, a nation of rest.

The final voice over the speakers:

“Our fort awaits,”

where guns line streets like pencils,

many fingers knowing their weight.

Yet still, hope rises:

wings broken yet unbowed,

praying, moving, surviving,

flight after flight toward peace.

Praise (Okunade) Ayowole is a Nigerian writer and poet whose work explores lived experiences, social realities, and imagination. She writes both fiction and nonfiction, with a growing interest in speculative and socially reflective narratives. Her work has appeared in literary platforms, and she continues to experiment with form and voice. Outside of writing, she works as a nurse and is an emerging public health professional.