Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Travel Advisory” by Jide Salawu.

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Travel Advisory

By Jide Salawu

Risk level is mutually assured,

the long face of water

is a reef of caution.

The clouds may gather,

as current of celestial anxieties.

Wayward wind can hurricane

on the city’s head.

The road skin may be tarred elite asphalt

but you may still find yourself missing home.

Stay hydrated, a sun

lifts up its arms in flame in summer.

If dreams get icy in winter,

you, hardcore optimists, must learn

how to dare the puffing face of God

and frigid smoke that emits from the sky mouth.

Emergency alert for a lone wolf

might be announced the night you arrive

in this stultifying town;

be aware of thrusting hands

of the night down the dark alley.

If your itinerary is confirmed

the siren may not be for you

depending on the mood of the city

and the gradient of your skin.

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Copyright © Jide Salawu

Forthcoming in Contraband Bodies, NeWest Press and Narrative Landscape, Fall 2025

Jide Salawu is a Canada-based Nigerian literary scholar and poet. He is the founding conversationalist at Brown Bamboo. Salawu is the author of Preface for Leaving Homeland published under African Poetry Book Fund in 2019 and the co-editor of African Urban Echoes published by Griots Lounge Canada, 2025. Salawu’s full-length poetry collection, Contraband Bodies, will be published in Fall 2025 by NeWest Press (Canada) and Narrative Landscape (Nigeria).

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