by Oladosu Michael Emerald
In my painting, a chainsaw
kisses a tree near the sea
as teeth devour meat.
Across the sea, skyscrapers
fume the carbon flames.
In the distance, a child
clutches an inhaler
gasping for breath
scent of blooming flowers
mocking their struggle
Near the sea, leaves surrender
to gravity & wandered
like refugees
A neighbor asked me
why the leaves still maintain
their greenness.
I replied,
“Nothing dies in art
Come tomorrow, & the green
is still green.
How else will I preserve
nature if not through art?”
Oladosu Michael Emerald (he/him) is the author of the poetry book, “Every Little Thing That Moves,” an art editor at Surging Tide magazine, a digital/musical/visual artist, a photographer, a footballer, a boxer, and a political scientist. He teaches art at the Arnheim Art Gallery to kids and adults, a volunteer art instructor at Status Dignus Child Rescue Home. He is a pioneer resident of the Muktar Aliyu Art Residency, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
His works have been published or forthcoming in many magazines and won numerous awards in writing and art; a few to mention: winner of Off the Limit Art contest, winner of Sprinng Annual Poetry Contest, finalist in AprilCentaur Essay contest, finalist in Arting Arena Poetry Chapbook contest, Providus bank anthology alongside Professor Wole Soyinka, finalist in Paradise Gate House Poetry Contest, Better Than Starbucks, Flash Frog, Icefloe Press, Feral, Lyra, Oriire, Kalahari Review, Con-scio, Madness Muse Press, Fraidy Cat Lit, Eco Punk, Spill Word Web, Paper Lantern Lit, the Maul magazine, Zoetic, Pinch Journal, Penumbric, Motheaten magazine, Native skin, Third Estate Art magazine, thehearth magazine, kalonipa, and elsewhere.
He’s a man who does not know how to give up, and art chose him before he existed.
Say hi to him on Twitter @garricologist and Instagram @garrycologist