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Ernest Ògúnyẹmí  is a writer and editor from Nigeria. His work has appeared/ is forthcoming in AGNITinderboxSouthern Humanities ReviewJoyland, the McNeese ReviewNo Tokens, among other places. He is a staff writer at Open Country.


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Ernest Ògúnyẹmí
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Starry, starry night


the body passes through
what it passes through—

party of pills, green white,
golden light, pigeon eyes; 

sanctuary of tasteless things,
pink tongue of dirty dawn;

the light forgets you these days, 
wound cradled in a wound;

touch everything with the fire,
still the ash will not be yours;

what we find by throttling, what 
we lose by longing 

for yesterday’s silver spoon;
they say Let go, hold yourself,

the rain will be done by morning—
but it has been cold night all your life;

the deer darts through the woods
in the canvas, God should have a number 

you can call on days when 
the beast turns you into

a bad soprano in a fine song;
I have lost everything, all I have

is this borrowed mouth, burrowed 
bag of wintered bones:

tomorrow I will be gone
& nothing will die again.





​Image by Tomasz Zaczeniuk (IG: @fotowizjer)                                                                                                           
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