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David Ishaya Osu

September 11, 2016

DONE

twice & swim

it was from my mother’s
mouth i first saw a kiss: your

name is in the bible, she said
& opened the curtains

show her your navel
twice & run

away from
dreaming, just

cold the root
the coal

burning
in my black

box is my blossom
& soon—she peeled

a pear, placed it
on my steel tongue

twice & said:
your bed is not a mistake

 

WAKING

……….all the pillows have fallen i keep playing a song till it enters my blood because there is no space
except traveling through threads around funguses the toast must be by a body as open as a boxfriend
your voice is on the outskirts of a blue sky……….a skin is never…………………………dead in the
ground…………………………where else is rainwater……………….. in your tongue
is the next door neigh……………….. hidden or asking for the top of cakes i stopped sleeping at night my
tattoo is not a taboo is……………….. drawing cherries on a whiteboard and giving ghosts nothing to taste a
river on a long trip

IN SPITE

……….be blind: the ocean
is upside down

……….i do not clock
outdoors: the miracle

……….was to turn blood
into candy—and

……….jesus will light
every apple in spite

……….of wound or
soldiers

 

 

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DAVID ISHAYA OSU writes poetry and nonfiction. He is a board member of the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation based in Uganda. Among publications, his poetry appears in Chiron Review, The Lampeter Review, CutBank, Vinyl, Transition, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, The Nottingham Review. His works are also published in anthologies including: RædLeaf Poetry: The African Diaspora Folio, A Thousand Voices Rising: An Anthology of Contemporary African Poetry, Maintenant 10: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing & Art. David is a fellow of Ebedi International Writers Residency, and is currently the poetry editor at Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel.