i’m linking things i’m beginning to see
the length of this organ, my dying land
all the mistakes my god has learned
they say the body is wise
in truth and in suffering
biding a time that knows no limits
i’m linking things i’m beginning to see
what became of the san people
who can tell us what happened
and the truth must be the truth
inside our bodies
the terrible words must burn.
Mxolisi Nyezwa is founder and editor of Kotaz, now in its fourteenth year.
Click here to purchase Issue 04
June 2025 Poetry Feature: New Poems from Pedro Poitevin, Aiden Heung, and Ellie Black
This month we’re pleased to bring you poems by PEDRO POITEVIN translated from Spanish by PHILIP NIKOLAYEV and new work by 2025 Disquiet Prize finalists AIDEN HEUNG and ELLIE BLACK.
HENDRI YULIUS WIJAYA
time and again his math teacher grounded him in the courtyard to lower / the level of his sissyness. the head sister chanted his name in prayer to thwart //
him from playing too frequently with girl classmates. long before he’s enamored with the word /
feminist
SHANLEY POOLE
I’m asking for a new geography, / something beyond the spiritual. // Tell me again, about that first / drive up Appalachian slopes // how you knew on sight these hills / could be home. I want // this effervescent temporary, here / with the bob-tailed cat // and a hundred hornet nests.
Don’t miss an issue! Subscribe to The Common.