By Olatunde Osinaike
Getting to know him
in the interim, and the gulf
of prepositions
describing the relative
he has been
to the two younger
than me. Around,
against, beyond, concerning,
without, notwith-
standing: all of the ways
we have known him
before. Rekindling
affiliations the same
as dreams
to the minors we were.
So I start there,
a song at midnight,
with an unsavory
pushback of prior
omissions, with leading
questions and
a thought
of gratuity
towards my mother
and brothers
who knew me
at my worst:
shedding
dandruff and
a parade of old
rinds as I digested
diligence from a dull
knife making
its own way through
a bulb of red onion.
No one ever thanked
them, my brothers
who’d like to know
what a change
of heart can do
for pressure,
chemistry of the eye
after long. My father
says he didn’t
know, but I tell him
that was his
first mistake,
starting with
his wants first
again. Needs are
the sons of wants,
so I tell him
to use me
for practice
and ask about
anything
other than
my day,
I am cool with the sun
already.
BIO:
Originally from the West Side of Chicago, Olatunde Osinaike is a Nigerian-American poet, essayist, and software developer. He is the author of Tender Headed (Akashic, 2023), selected by Camille Rankine as winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series. His honors include the Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize, honorable mention for the Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Award in Poetry, and inclusion in the 20.35 Africa and Best New Poets anthologies.