Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo
Poetry Book Society Special Commendation Autumn 2024 czech poetry each utterance is filtered through

each utterance is filtered through the other”

with a total effect that is affirming and transcendent

’ – Wislawa Szymborska

and though the poems are imbued with James Caruth’s quiet acceptance of the way things are

Who is sketching this life and who is watching it being sketched

Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo<br><b>Poetry Book Society Special Commendation Autumn 2024</b> czech poetry each utterance is filtered throughOn 21 September 2001, the torso of a black boy was discovered in the River Thames, near Tower Bridge in central London, clothed only in an orange pair of girls shorts. Given the name Adam by police officers, the unidentified boy was between four and eight years old. What comes next cannot without a story of water and offering. The sun shines and we gather because the river allows it. Na from clap dem dey enter dance. We enter with, and as, Adam.