The African experience of homelessness is a multi-faceted one: through the impact of capitalism, globalisation and xenophobia, there are multiple scenarios where one’s sense of belonging is constantly put in jeopardy. This phenomenon truly transcends […]
At the Gates My mother’s spirit is everywhere, and I am a coward who has run away from home in the name of healing. I have left my father with the loneliness of the giant […]
1. Pigeons will always eat before you do.2. The police torch is never looking for good news.3. Newspapers keep you warm if you don’t read them first.4. Names are lighter than blankets—you can carry them […]
When I think of radiance, I think of fire. And here, we choose—provocatively—to overlook the myth of Prometheus, with its infamous theft and divine punishment. Instead, we turn to the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who offer a rare myth of co-operation between gods and mortals. After the goddess Tsetse is expelled for her chaotic tendency to set things ablaze, fire disappears from the world. It is Bumba who then teaches humans how to harness it, revealing its source in the trees. This myth invites us to ask: where do we, as poets, harness our own fire? How do we keep it alive? What does it mean to be radiant?
This chapbook was born out of a desire to give voice to something many of us go through, but few get to talk about: the silence surrounding chronic illness and disability.
the palace has promised three gold coins to he who might find the pea troubling the princess. the royal room is full of goose feathers and eggshells – many, already cracked, seeping syrupy rage. overseen […]
i want to make a ritual of washing my face, i want to appease my peopled when i say i am a thing/ it is gentleness/ when i say i am a thing that does […]
What do you know? I tell my friend I didn’t apply for a scholarship because I knew I’d be sick around that time. She tilts her head. “How would you know you’d be sick?”To her, […]
Today, the pain wears pearls, sits politely between my ribs. I dress her in cardigans and loose language: “I’m just a little tired.” No one asks tired how it learned to limp. At the pharmacy, […]