Necklace – Ianne
boy did you not know
the hum of the veld
when little remains
but char
Daybreak – Isabelle Baafi
And yes, they drink at Night (get drunk on you).
Yes, Days shine when Sunbeams scatter darkness
ode to david’s ennui // or the land of babel ii – Jeremiah Agbaakin
once, my father’s half-brother drunk, tipped off
the balcony, broke his ribs & blamed his wife for the descent
If the body could speak – Jay Kophy
I once had a skin that was not
heavy. it spoke in silence
like an image in a mirror does
My Legacy Will Be Different – Kondwa Rayne
Through love and loss
Through triumph and heartbreak
This body bears the tracks of my tears
at swim, two boys – Kopano Maroga
take your calloused hands in mine
and listen to the meteors of silence
hurtling between us
Sandton Skye – Maneo Refiloe Mohale
I’m used to love on the edge of a cliff, unsurprised to find
myself in the tempest heart of another triangle
God is a Mother and She is Everywhere, Everywhere – Megan Ross
I quit Church and see God in a thousand
different ways as if She’s split
open like a fruit
“Let’s Go Get Sammak in Queens And Have An Egyptian Day,” He Says – Nadra Mabrouk
This won’t save us. Neither will the weight
of mercury stored in each filament like gold
Tansheer – Nermeen Hegazi
tansheer is the stars overhead
and prayer on your breath
water stinging your palms like redemption
Poem for the Nearly Damned – Nome Emeka Patrick
we were running but into our father’s arms, & not into walls of bullets.
see what wounded destriers our nation has made us into?
I inhabit you – Oubah Osman
My own mouth knowing, and so saying:
My daddy remembered only my name, even after he’d lost his own
