Menu Close

Tampered Press

Category: Poetry

A SELF-PORTRAIT TOO DEAD

Poetry by Sarpong-Osei-Asamoah A self-portrait too dead At high noon on June 28, 2021, Nasiru Yussif and Murtala Mohammed were shot and killed by security personnel at a protest in Ejura, Kumasi, Ghana. A country made of pins & needles sharpens its teeth on our teeth. We were molten birds quiet as...
March 24, 2023

AGORKPANU

Poetry by Joshua Enam Semanyoh Agorkpanu I cannot write a poem about home and forget the land that raised me Sugar - how can a place I left for years linger on my tongue so? The liquid in my heart still flows there Pour me water to drown this thirst...
March 17, 2023

RESIDENT NOSTALGIA

Poetry by Afua Awo Twumwa at Suhum there were no curtains all the years we let the wind come & go how it wanted to we watched curtains pulled apart in the Philippines the screen filling our eyes & we thought the luxury of not needing air outside of yourself...
March 16, 2023

IN POSTERUM

Poetry by Sedem Appleh He can be a bully sometimes How he’s able to overwork and overwhelm me with my own thoughts And wonder if this very path can create for me the life that I imagined   Uncertainty. Unpredictability. Uneasiness Three fine words that summarizes the way he makes...
January 25, 2022

Talitha

Poetry by Henrietta Enam Talitha And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. —Mark 5:41 KJV   This damsel, I always wonder— Was she surprised at the reversal of her journey? Did she arrive...
January 25, 2022

WOMAN LOVE

Poetry by Grace Wood Woman Love The first woman I loved, Was a slumber party dare. Giggling, we faced each other, Bare-faced and clean In bright floral checked pajamas. Her lips parted soft enough To touch mine, And my skull went glittery. I hardly slept that night, Wrapped awake in my...
September 2, 2021

WHAT IS A PARASITE

Poetry by Eamy Mireku What is a parasite? The roommate who only knows how to take & take The Falciparum travelling first class inside Oyarifa's mosquitoes A good Korean movie A pipe dream that sucks your wherewithal and self-worth The so-called lover whose ego is nourished by your misery &...
August 31, 2021

S.O.S

Poetry by jamilah malika abu-bukare s.o.s hummingbirds and bats flicker in the twilight winged and fleeting - swoop, dip and dive - blur at differing depths one come like the other, either look like both but not us - we expose birds but hide bats inside rooms inside ourselves we only...
August 26, 2021

IN PURSUIT OF SOMETHING WHOLE

Poetry by Elizabeth Johnson PATTERNS The rain exposes the weakness that a building stands on. It gathers in small circles filling up the holes in the fading paths. When we walk, we remember what it means to be careful, avoiding the gathered splashes like a plaque pretending it is not there...
August 14, 2021

WILD, BLUE YONDER

Poetry by Benikranus Appaw Wild, Blue Yonder If we could all fly, where would we go? Before man was cursed to adapt, cuddled up under the coldest nights & run naked on hot days, we had freedom to move with just wishful thinking and simply being present. If we could...
July 27, 2021
« Older posts Newer posts »