March 6, 2025

Hallelujah Boys

Brian Gyamfi

      I have seen how full they become; their plates,

      their elaborate use of fingers to press holes into

     The elders have been weighed and found wanting.

tenderlions.

But no small hunger can constitute the eating of naked birds.

dead wings on plates like butter on ceiling.

     I have tasted this meal; a secret that tried to remain a  secret.

                  Is this the art of tasting?

     A meal with elders of collapsed angels.

BRIAN GYAMFI is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, the Zell Fellowship, two Hopwood Awards, and the Michael R. Gutterman Award. His work has appeared in POETRY, Narrative Magazine, The Adroit Journal, Poetry International, Guernica, and other publications. He serves as a contributing editor at Oxford Poetry.