Between Falling and Rising - Adeeso Adeyemi and The Phoenix Poem

There is a place in time

that no one speaks of,

a late hour of day

when we are unsure

of our next breath’s destination.

This is not loss.

This is not return.

This is a pause

between the moment

the grip has loosened

and the moment

you remember how tightly

you were holding

whoever you were holding,

but are now unable to reach.

The earth in that space is not the earth.

The sky in that space is not a promise.

Only emptiness

recognizing your shape.

The first place to feel this space

is the silence within your pulse;

a profound stillness

between what was constant,

what stood firm,

and what is becoming.

There, fissures speak.

Not loudly.

Not destructively.

But truth.

slipping along the edge of certainty,

asking you to listen,

to look inward.

Somewhere in the drop of the fall,

there is a lesson

that will not be forgotten.

Originally published on the author’s social media, 2020

Adeeso Adeyemi is a Nigerian poet writing under The Phoenix Poem. His work explores identity, resilience, societal reflection, and the unseen forces that shape human experience. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria.