Table of Contents
Kayo Chingonyi
Introduction 1
Jason Allen-Paisant
Maple Grove 9
Learning Birdsong 10
Tree Dreaming 11
Raymond Antrobus
The Acceptance 12
And That 14
For Cousin John 16
Dean Atta
No Ascension 18
Signet 20
Two Black Boys in Paradise 22
Janette Ayachi
The Lovers 24
QuickFire, Slow Burning 26
Worshipping Grief 29
Dzifa Benson
For the Love of Hendrik de Jongh, Drummer from Batavia 31
Ms Hipson, the tall Dutchwoman, dreams of dancing with a man tall enough to make her feel delicate 34
Ms Sidonia married twice and retired a wealthy woman 35
Malika Booker
Points of this Reckoning 36
Discordant Mourning 40
Golden Grove 41
Eric Ngalle Charles
Mboa Mi: 'My Country' 44
Heroes 45
A Song for Freedom 48
Inua Ellams
The Vanishing 49
Of Howling Wolves 51
A Boy / Twice 52
Samatar Elmi
[Etymologies] 54
The Fear 56
Coda 58
Khadijah Ibrahiim
Herman Avenue
Hand-Cart Woman 60
Bath Prescription 1 65
Bush Craft Prescription 68
Keith Jarrett
My mother sings of how she got her education 70
Scalp 71
Nor the Arrow That Flies in the Day 73
Anthony Joseph
Naming 75
Wire, God of Wallerfield 78
House Party, Mt Lambert, 1978 79
Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa
Bitch Ghazal 80
Hurricanes Also Taught Us How to Be Sophisticated When Things Get Messy 82
Slow Whine 83
Vanessa Kisuule
I Auntiehood 85
Blessings 86
On Freezing A Dead Son 88
Rachel Long
Your Daddy Ain't Rich 90
As If 92
Adam Lowe
Desire 93
Aftermath 95
Once We Were Wolves 97
Nick Makoha
An Essay on Man 98
Pythagoras Theorem 100
The Long Duration of a Split Second 102
Karen McCarthy Woolf
From Unsafe 104
Momtaza Mehri
A Comparative History of Fire 108
Hooyos 110
Even on Canvas, Oilfields Burn 111
Bridget Minamore
Golden Shovel for My People 113
Catching Joke 115
Sestina for Kara Walker 118
Selina Nwulu
A History of Banning 120
Mango Tree 121
When the Party Is Over 123
Gboyega Odubanjo
Dip 124
Arrangements 125
Man 126
Louisa Adjoa Parker
There are moments I forget 127
You're 129
Housewarming 130
Roger Robinson
Gold 131
Aba Shanti Soundsystem 132
Denise Saul
The Room Between Us 133
Instructions For Yellow 134
The Viewing 135
Kim Squirrell
Walking Home from School 136
Healing 137
I Want to Write a Poem About Togetherness 138
Warsan Shire
Backwards 140
Midnight in the Foreign Food Aisle 142
Rommi Smith
From Palette for a Portrait of Little Richard 143
Yomi Sode
On Fatherhood: Proximity to Death 146
[Insert Name]'s Mother: A Ghazal 149
On Fatherhood: Envy 151
Degna Stone
Over 152
Another Tongue 154
How to Unpick the Lies? 155
Keisha Thompson
Some Have Beaten Suffering 157
The Concrete Square off Tib Street in May 159
Number 2020 160
Kandace Siobhan Walker
Art Pop 164
Eye Contact 165
Sugar, Sugar, Honey, Honey 166
Warda Yassin
Swift 167
Treetop Hotel 168
Miss Yassin 169
Belinda Zhawi
Tchaikovsky's January 170
Runyengetero 172
This Body Wants What It Wants 173
Contributors 175
Acknowledgements 189
Permission Acknowledgements 191
