poetry by Oladosu Michael Emerald
I LEARN FIRE IN REVERSE
I walk out the flame
like it owed me.
shirtless, yes—
because shame was never skin-deep,
just borrowed heat
from men
who mistook silence
for strength.
the cut unscabs.
blood pulls itself back into veins,
the slap unhands itself mid-air
& calls my name like a question:
Are you still afraid to cry?
the belt slides politely
back through the loops.
my mouth forgets how to curse like my father.
the word man
no longer echoes like a loaded room.
meanwhile,
a god learns how to hold
without breaking.
he is there,
peeling smoke from my chest
like old wallpaper.
he is there,
unbuilding the myths
that softness means weakness,
that rage is the only language of survival,
that boys who weep
have failed the test.
somewhere a hymn unsings itself
& the church bench
stops biting my back.
the scripture finally breathes.
for once, it does not accuse.
somewhere a mother exhales
like she’s been holding
her son’s breath
her whole life.
meanwhile,
I stand
only closer to my name.
I am not healed;
I am the flame.
Oladosu Michael Emerald is a writer, digital/musical/visual artist, photographer, and actor. He is the author of "Every Little Thing That Moves" and serves as an editor at Uncanny Magazine and Surging Tide. A Science Fiction Poetry Association member, A 3x Best of the Net nominee, and 3x Pushcart nominee, he is the winner of the Sine Qua Non Inaugural Poetry Prize, Off the Limit Contest, SprinNG Poetry Contest, Garden Party Collective Neurodivergent Poetry Contest, and first runner-up of the Sande Poetry Prize. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Chestnut Review, FIYAH, ONLY POEMS, Asimov, Bournemouth Journal, Temz Review, and elsewhere. He is a pioneer resident of the Muktar Aliyu Art Residency and the Rongo Art Residency and a fellow of The Ugly Collective. He tweets @garricologist on X and @oladosu_michael_emerald on Instagram.