Changeling – Tramaine Suubi
how do i tell my mother
that she gave birth to a hurricane
part shapeshifter & part indigo child
at any given moment
i am bending the rain, faithfully
Bathsheba Remembering – Hana Meron
Unmoor everything around me to grieve;
The cost of unraveling all mine to pay.
There’s not a man in this world I would die for,
including the Lord.
I’d burn the whole world for my son.
The Fishmonger – Lola Oh
I’m not afraid of the water
but what it makes of me. the
fishmonger wraps a trout
head in brown paper and I want
to say wait stop it can’t breathe
I want to take all the fish back
At the Family Lunch, My Uncle from Egypt Says “You’ve Gained Weight” – Sarah Yanni
I have the exact body of my egyptian father,
& his mother & his mother’s
brothers, a round belly & broad shoulders
which will someday disappear
My Father Plays Five Instruments – Sarah Yanni
he sang to me all childhood
composing tender songs
eluding one dream for another
in the immigrant way, loyalty
exceeding a drumbeat
all so I could be benevolent
Ìbàdàn – Damilola Omotoyinbo
amidst the seamless blend
of Sángo, houses with smelly
gutters cluster like beehives. here,
street children stomp their feet
with hysterical laughter. slowly,
Mókólá opens up its mouth
Longing to Suffer – Jerry K. Ayodele
I want nothing more than this
eyes like mine have failed
to present a more arresting glance than yours
so I must be forgiven for these forbidden wants
Dedication – Manthipe Moila
you wonder at this world where
blackness in girl form is a round
and rotating emptiness
that one can hold in a disappearing hand.
A Balancing Act – Isaac Parbey
Yet if I were to tell this story of a boy
who has never known a home,
about the nights he has tried to snuff his life,
what difference would it make?
Portrait of Disjointed Parts – Goodnews Karibo
these days, I walk
out into the fields, I give in to
the red light of the perpendicular
moon on my skin, I let the gauntlet
down, then the open threads of sobriety
The Roost – Goodnews Karibo
you move through the cords,
naming each loop by the glimmer
of its elbow. you fondle the two
sides of the world, which are
hope and disaster. a bird suspended
by the whip of the universe.
Lehare La Pelo Ya Ka – Katleho Kano Shoro
I am finally
building you a sheathe. come rest
under my tongue easy
after days of chiselling
breath into swords and freedom