Reverse Nostalgia & When a Storm Holds Your Hands | Emmanuel Akintoye

(cover photograph direction: Dagim Abebe)

Reverse Nostalgia

 Just  ____ you  ____  your  ____ breath,  You  feel  like  you  have  been  there, in the  ____   life,

        before           take               last                                                                                                       after

       after             give               first                                                                                                     before

a blur of  the  ____  math  of  right  and  wrong.  Calculations stuck in time- Déjà  vu –

                        after

fore.

A  mirror  of  the  ____,  not  reflective enough, still, without light.

future                                               

                             past                                                   

Just ____ you match into the ____  life,  memories     ____   hug  you  till  they  ____

        before                                     after                                  do                                            sink

        after                                      before                             do not                                       swell

____ your mind.

  into                                                             

 out of                                                            

You find  that  the  end  is always  ____ dreams – the art or the science of it

                                                     filled with

                                                      empty of

fast subliming into the  breath  your  ancestors  ____  right before they made love, and

                                                                                       took

                                                                                      gave

the hearts mothers before your mother ____ ,

                                                                       took

                                                                      gave

Just before you.

When a Storm Holds Your Hands

When a storm holds your hands

It takes you everywhere but home –

A dumpsite, a wasteland

To a house of bones, each brick isolated – an almost home

What the storm touches, it freezes

Your dream, iceberg underwater

Sunken

The storm leaves you with nothing

Just hope –

This deadly thing, the sharpest bit of the knife

And you watch through hope’s eyes

The crumbling of time – destiny sinking into sand

Sand crashing against hourglass,

Glass freezing into shards

How familiar are you

With the undressing of the storm

Its permanence evident in the things it takes their breath away.

A surgeon describes it:

A flatline.

Emmanuel Akintoye

was born in Oyo State where he writes from. Working predominantly on the stage, Smarnuel tells conscious existential and political stories through poetry and performance. He currently studies Medicine and Surgery in the College of Health Sciences at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. Smarnuel draws metaphors and imagery from his practice as a medical student. His writing, often described as introspective, is influenced by his relationship with God and his observance of human intricacies. His poetry has appeared in The Kalahari Review, The Dried Review, eMerge Magazine (USA), and Touch Magazine with others forthcoming elsewhere. Nuel has shared his poetry on the TedX platform and other important poetry spaces. He is the winner of the 2023 Sigma Poetry Workshop Poetry Slam. When he isn’t writing, reading, or studying human intricacies, he can be found on Instagram watching reels and tweeting on @smarnuel.