After life comes death - Dada Masiti

After life comes death
When the Shaikh dies, no one should weep
Write “in the name of God,”
For everything begins that way

Daughter of Locusts - Ribka Sibhatu

Locusts, darkened sky,
flayed earth. A mother
panting in bed.

Like Elephants - Gaamangwe Mogami

Before the sad years made homes in our bones,
And our blood turned into riots,
We hang our swelling breasts in the branches of mamma’s¹ morala tree,
And we sang old gospels to the humans sleeping thick in our ribs,
Yet to be born.

Perfectionist Farmer’s Daughter - Xiomara M. Cacho Caballero

You improve the value of the habitat
Intensifying from dawn your love for plants and flowers
intending to provide a solution to the Environmental footprint
capturing the carbon of the earth and the peace that
the flora provides you

Fishhawks - Anne Szumigalski

my son stands in waist-high water
the salt reddens his skin
out of his face spring wiry hairs
thickening to a beard
his arms have become wide and heavy

Sapadilli Tam - James Martinez

You want to hear of of w’at I know,
About de fish day tark of so,
De one dat people use to see,
Outside o’ Sapadilli Caye?

Lamp-Lit - Kisaka Ryo

I step into my apartment and first off
dart a look at the little lamp
on my answering-machine.

To the Venerable Virgin, Mariana De Jesús De Paredes Y Flores, Lily Of Quito - José Manuel Peramás

Virgin, the New World’s sweet pride and greatest glory,
Receive these Indian verses, which the poet renders to you,
coming from Quito’s boundary, with your pleasant demeanour

The Potatoes - Inge Pederson

Hospital. In sinking
yellow gardens. Water
stands still
under the trees.

Freedom Writers - Nimah Ismail Nawwab

The scribe’s spirit lifts
scenting the perfume of promising openness
taking a deep breath of tangy freshness
freedom of speech hailed in surprised jubilation