All the men in my family are ghosts – Oyin Olalekan
I remember the day he came close
only to say, Please, I don’t want to be alone in my own home
theories about longings – Precious Okpechi
they say the brain forgets what longing is – a boy with the dreams of a father begging for alms
Vieja – Rotimi Robert
Alone in a way we’re yet to understand
Alone in a way only time breathes life into
Figment – Saddiq Dzukogi
My son cannot wait for his milk teeth to fall
from his mouth. He wants to pick them up,
save them below his pillow
Drone Fiction – Sara Elkamel
I am lonely. Lonely like a drone
with bones that draw rust. Stand by me, and watch the dead
Test Post
They beat our tongues smooth, The kasbah shuddered and wailed. I teeth the language, pocked and bloody. The boys crashed into the sand: it welcomed them. In the rain, her hair was a river of petals. My grandfather spoke with a red tongue. A blade is a mirror is a blade is a wound. The […]
date night – Sibulelo Manamatela
he thinks it is nice to be eaten by a vagina
sweet tooth turned decay and cavity
Raw Sugar – Sihle Ntuli
the hands, rip cane from soil
teeth, sink under
succulent summer delicacy
Keeping it together – Sinaso Mxakaza
I threw a couple of amensout of the windowwhen the house was warmAnd my heart was alrightI couldn’t keep any manMy mother’s houseA sanctuary of womenwho abandoned themselvesat the feet of their loversThey looked like their strugglesAnd blessings in empty churchesWere beautiful so we looked at themWith our hearts hoping to keep themAt times […]
Like Shooting Stars on a Solstice I – Ugochi Okafor
I like the feeling: your body, my body—together, wedded by the purple
duvet that followed you home last April
After Suicide – Àkpà Arinzechukwu
We wanted happiness, you wanted flowers.
& when the chrysanthemum germinated
you asked if I had ever thought of losing something
Clothing – Aremu Adams Adebisi
Because Gakti is of the Sami people who are the people of reindeer
and the Tapa cloth can be used to decorate walls and for poetry
