Obit.
(After César Vallejo)
i will die in london in the neighbourhood
i grew up in outside the town hall
on the high street. i will have been stabbed
and my killer will look just like me so
no-one will look for him. my body
will remain dead in daylight for hours until
the sky turns more blick than blue. on the news
i will be smiling. i will be as handsome
as i have ever been. today a young man
has died they will say today a young man has died today
it will be a friday a young man has died young o so terribly
young. i will die again three days later
when i hand myself in no-one will believe it because
i will look just like me. i will look like i have died o so
many times already. i will be survived by myself
and the many times that i still have to die.
Gboyega Odubanjo is a British-Nigerian poet born and raised in East London. In 2018 he completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of two poetry pamphlets, While I Yet Live (Bad Betty Press, 2019) and Aunty Uncle Poems (The Poetry Business, 2021). In 2021, he was also one of the poets featured in the Runaways London anthology (IS&T Press). Gboyega is an editor of bath magg.
This poem is reshared from our archives, and was originally selected as Pick Of Month for October 2018.