Michael, Deportee

At first, yeah, people was cool. They would say good morning and all that, ask about London and thing. Then they heard the story that I was one of them deportees and people changed. It was like I had some disease. People started crossing the road and avoiding me.

Homecoming

Kɛl, bula pɛ ngur nɛ nam

Sister, go back to the abandoned village with me

From Glasgow Without Love

Elvis sniffed, mulling over words to tell the man sat opposite him that he was an illegal immigrant and his love for Molly was conditional. He heaved a deep sigh and gulped down his martini for some form of courage but found none at the end of the cup.

Pushcart Prize Nominations 2024

Announcing the Decolonial Passage Pushcart Prize nominees for 2024.

House of Tables

here is where we break bread / here is where we play cards / here is where we pound our fists / here is where we down our wine / here is where we lay out the cloth / to spread the bounty in / a house of tables

Note from Nonpeople

I come from Nowhere. It has been told to me many times, by many authorities, and government officials, and all sorts of serious people in their decent suits. I see no reason to doubt them. I’d rather doubt your logic.

A Black Man’s Eulogy

A Black man is born / not expected to thrive / disposable in ‘Nam / not expected to survive

Jesus Said to Carry Our Cross

Our family heirloom of a life lived on another man’s terms. / Heavy chains of capitalism looped together by a history of compliance and resistance. / We carry our cross as Jesus said, / We carry our cross as the preacher said.

Fumigations

Our bodies accrue roadside in a tally / of insanities born of tenements Jozi East / like city deep, stories the same – / leaving me nostalgic for rondavels again.

The Best American Short Stories

Congratulations to Arnold Edwards! Decolonial Passage has submitted his short story, “Come Full Circle,” for consideration and possible publication.

Cathartic Realizations and Emotional Reparations

To be the redeemed of an earth that denigrated and sullied its ontological, epistemological, and / metaphysical conceptualization.

Come Full Circle

The article was an explanation of the picture. It was a lynching in Coffee County, Alabama, August 1968; White people standing around; men, women, children as if at a Fourth of July picnic. Drinking from cups and bottles, smiling, eating snow cones. No caption, no explanation under the photo, just two figures circled.

Nomenclature

To be mixed isn’t fixed / I’m constantly learning what my ancestors did for me / The roots deep and twisted / This family tree in the amazon / Amidst colonial industrialization / Tall, strong, and why I breathe.

Best of the Net Nominations 2024

Announcing the Decolonial Passage Best of the Net nominees for 2024!

Plucked and Trussed

Yet as another year passes, / and more of her structures falter, / we, her children, are being left without. / Ignoring her calls. / Blind to every flood and gust.