Poetry by Jay Kophy
Guillotine
in January 2002. the national reconciliation commission
was formed to ask us to remember what our blood won’t let us
over here the sea is anything that streams down
from the eyes of grieving mothers or fathers or sisters
or brothers who are buried next to all the gold
they want to harvest to exchange for food
how do we tell the children that the yellow in our flag
doesn’t stand for the color of the sun
or what you get from pouring blood on leaves
wait
is it blood or bled? I do not know which to use
when I’m asked to talk about my country—
which asks that it be called without knowing
the history of its name
how many questions have we asked the sky
in our prayers. only to be answered in silence
on 6th February 2019. another commission was formed
after bullets were found at a polling center
Autopsy
Consider this
that a boy has to pour his name
back into his wounded mouth
before he can remember who he is
without having to wear the skin of his fathers
who convert blood into ghosts like
the dead & the dead
I’m told always walk backwards
because they only live in the past
I come from a long line of men
who say I love you from stitched mouths
bending bodies into the shape of things
that spell out soft in sign language
which is to say
I know no other way to celebrate the things
that bring me joy than to eat their memories
to turn laughter into a hunger
what is another metaphor for doubt other than faith
after a few minutes of being reminded
what it means to be loved
I ask my lover what can kill us
she says everything we trust
Bio
Jay Kophy is a Ghanaian poet and writer. His poems are forthcoming and have been featured in literary magazines such as Glass Poetry, Shore Poetry, Kalahari Review, Hellebore, Tampered Press and many others. He is the 2020 winner of the Samira Bawumia Literature Prize in poetry. He’s also curator of anthologies to grow in two bodies and How to Write My Country’s Name, two collections of poems and short stories from emerging young African writers. You can find him on Twitter @jay_kophy.
Originally published September 20, 2020
Joyce
October 15, 2020 — 7:40 am
This is amazing……I had to carefully follow the lines cos it’s deep……..nice piece