There is something deeply raw about the way Oliver Sopulu Odo writes. His words do not attempt to escape darkness; they walk directly through it. Inspired by both his environment and the world beyond it, Oliver’s poetry explores fear, failure, depression, resilience, and the strange beauty hidden inside emotional battles.
For Oliver, writing is more than expression — it is identity. His work moves between the possible and the impossible, blending personal emotion with haunting imagery and reflection. In “F was for foe or fear,” he turns inner struggle into confrontation, transforming pain into resistance and resistance into fire.
“I became a fire; I burned my foe into a charcoal.”
F was for foe or fear
by Oliver Sopulu Odo
F was for foe or fear
I had tasted failure more than the numbers of my age,
Failure was the colour of my effort,
Dejection became the metaphor of my soul,
My soul was dying just like my body,
Depression was my colour.
Depression was my foe,
I knew that I had to fight my foe,
I became a warrior,
I didn’t just wrestle,
I became a fire; I burned my foe into a charcoal.
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