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As a child I watched my father speak to God, morning and night.

Before his bed, he kneeled and pointed his head at the world.

Half-way, he fell asleep with an open mouth to take back his words.

And it was when I imagined his prayers started praying him.

I tried speaking to God, but my body kept growing into silts.

When I slept I didn’t think the world slept with me. I wondered if

God my father spoke to saw me through his prayers. For

Those nights I sat by my cousin’s grave and held her hands

And watched the sky twinkle my body as song written from the back.



Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto is from Owerri-Nkworji in Nkwerre, Imo state, Nigeria, and a lover of literature. Recently, he won the Castello di Duino Poesia Prize for an unpublished poem, 2018. And some of his works have appeared in Lunaris Review, AFREADA, Raffish Magazine, Kalahari Review, Praxismagazine, Bakwa Magazine, One, Ake Review, and Crannòg magazine. You can find him on Twitter @chinuaezenwa.
Current Issue
16 Dec 2024

Across the train tracks from BWI station, a portal shimmered in the shade of a patch of tall trees. From her seat on a northbound train taking on passengers, Dottie watched a woman slip a note out of her pocket, place it under a rock, strip off her work uniform, then walk naked, smiling, into the portal.
exposing to the bone just how different we are
a body protesting thinks itself as a door out of a darkroom, a bullet, too.
In this episode of SH@25, Editor Kat Kourbeti sits down with Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li to discuss her foray into poetry, screenwriting, music composition and more, and also presents a reading of her two poems published in 2022, 'Ave Maria' and 'The Mezzanine'.
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
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