The Fear You Feed Us Breaks Our Wings – Alain Hirwa Jules
I had a dream
I was a citizen of the sky
until a man died in police custody
and his country denied the international community
on miracles – Ernest Ogunyemi
for a moment, I wonder
who invented grief. then I think grief is not the problem, really,
the problem is that the maker forgot to make a cure
impossible – Ernest Ogunyemi
desire is a delicate thing. & sometimesa dangerous thing. it could heal wounds, but also open fresh eyes in the body. a man once offeredhis palms to the sky to kill thirst, & was buried by the sea. another man, finding food for his belly,walked into a forest to hunt game. crouched atop a tree, […]
God’s Easiest Wrath is Absence – Adedayo Agarau
an owl tells me my name, says the street where I grew
a bean, my first crush turned a coin into a cowry
I breathe into this room, my bed warm enough to bless an egg
portrait titled after my father’s absence – Dalia Elhassan
he was a young man in amreeka for the first time, first of his name to uproot the soil that raised him & 1989 was nyc, meeting winter for the first time, sleeping on an attic floor, & i take down the details furiously
RED – Hiwot Adilow
he says, of course this is my last
drop, my baby, he walks with me
slowly to the door, i don’t want
to let go or say i love you,
when he shows me out
Other Ways of Saying – Nour Kamel
it’s a bit over (the top)
from some tv show meaning
I don’t know which is which merci
thank you from a lady’s mouth
HYSTERIA – Hiwot Adilow
I can’t cock a gun ’cause I’m
a debutant counting coins,
wincing when lil nigger
fingers touch my hand
HER BAG OF VEGETABLES – Opeyemi Rasak-Oyadiran
The day father died and they took him away, his eyes wide open, mirroring the shock in mine, Mother chopped. Carrots, lettuce, even ginger that she didn’t like
Hiding Place – Busisiwe Mahlangu
There is always someone suggesting a way to fix yourself
There is a way to make tummy-rolls roll off you
There is a way to burn the bulge under your arm
There is a way to cut your hips
Poem At Twenty-Four – Abdulrahim Hussani
But I can tell you of the dreams
the real ones that found sloughs to dwell in
away from the cold of their own terrain
watching indifferently, the shivering bodies
LAMENTATIONS OF A WANDERER – Victor Enite Abu
Could I have known that in the dark corners of a building
In the chaos of music and swinging hips
In the cloud of smoke and streams of liquor
