POETRY

Painting: Shards of Blackamoor

December 1, 2022 | Issue II | Blessing Omeiza Ojo 

A painter asks a white tongue how he wants to appear

on a canvass. He says: I want to be natural, still white.

I want my tongue smeared with Black blood, in broad strokes.

I hate toothpicks. But show me––show me 

picking my teeth of the remains of dark flesh.

My teeth should be stained, or rotten of blood.

My hands, yes– should have clubs, still white, still natural

but a Black man’s name must be written on it.

Do not forget to gift me claws like that of an eagle.

Would love to have a dark hue close to me,

my claws stuck in his chest or neck, lungs starving of air

but I hate to be photographed with a blackamoor.

And do not forget to add shades of Blacks, watching me,

helpless, wanting to say what won’t be heard, anywhere.

Blessing Omeiza Ojo, is a black bard married to a white angel. He chairs Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation, Abuja. He is a contributor to literary journals with poetry surfacing in The Deadlands, Cọ́n-scìò, Split Lip, Kalahari Review and elsewhere. He has received nominations for Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize, Creators of Justice Awards, Castello di Duino International Poetry and Theatre Competition, Jack Grapes Poetry Prize, Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest and the Korea-Nigeria Poetry Prize.

Art Credit: Pinterest