The boy at the corner store counts
his pennies like he’s counting the days
till he can leave.
I watch him from my window,
his body a map of all the things we lose
before we learn how to name them.
His mother yells from the porch—
it’s time for dinner,
time to come home,
but he stands there,
hands in his pockets,
the weight of the world
pressing into his shoulders.
I want to tell him that love
ain’t nothing but a ghost
we chase through the streets.
But he already knows that.
He’s been running
since the day he learned how to walk.
Oladosu Michael Emerald (he/him) is the author of the poetry book, "Every Little Thing That Moves," an art editor at Surging Tide Magazine, a first-reader at Radon Journal, a digital/musical/visual artist, an actor, a photographer, and an athlete. He teaches art at the Arnheim Art Gallery to kids and adults, is an Art Instructor at the Anasa Collection Art Gallery, and is a volunteer art instructor at Status Dignus Child Rescue Home and Ibeere Otun Initiative. He is a Pioneer Fellow of the Muktar Aliyu Art Residency, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
His works have been published or forthcoming in many magazines and won numerous awards in writing and art; a few to mention: winner of Off the Limit Art contest, winner of Sprinng Annual Poetry Contest, second runner-up in Fireflies poetry contest, finalist in AprilCentaur Essay contest, finalist in Arting Arena Poetry Chapbook contest, Providus bank anthology alongside Professor Wole Soyinka, finalist in Paradise Gate House Poetry Contest. Say hi to him on Twitter @garricologist and @garrycologist on Instagram.
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