David Ishaya Osu

Untitled

mum and dad
didn’t give
me a name
neither
did
they say
what day
i was born–follow
rain fruit drips follow
forest culture
crane to crane
thinking not
of what is happening
to your trousers
nor what the nightlights
refuse your eye,
they wrote as a will.
when they wanted
me out
of my shell
they struck a coconut
against the wall where
i keep my ear
where my breath walks. and
when they wanted
me to draw sunlight
into their living room, they
kissed me
with the lips
smelling of white juice

David Ishaya Osu is a Nigerian poet. His poems have been published in Watershed Review, Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka, Birmingham Arts Journal, Acumen Literary Journal, Ann Arbor Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, Souvenir, Porter Gulch Review, A Thousand Voices Rising: An Anthology of Contemporary African Poetry, among others. David is a board member of Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, and is currently polishing his debut poetry collection.