Vol. 49 No. 1 (2023)

Obsidian 49.1 Cover features a painting of a Black man holding to monstera leaves.

Published: 2025-02-07

POETRY

Our Exoselves

jp/p jp/p
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Breaching The Surface

Samaa Abdurraqib
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What Kind of Creature Is This?

Samaa Abdurraqib
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Water Poem

Afua Ansong
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What Happens in the Mountains

Afua Ansong
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Afro-Pessimism 101: Quiz on Afroelectrostatics & Black Capacitance

Makalani Bandele
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blacksound/\verdantdreams

simóne j banks
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Eating/Feeding: July 12, 1790

Angela Williams Bickham
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Edges

Naila Buckner
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Girl Remembers a Place Even Columbus Wouldn't Miss

Schyler Butler
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Girl Reads About the Nineteen Dead Children

Schyler Butler
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But Did You Die, Tho?

Constance Collier-Mercado
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Some Shit to Carry on the Outside

Quintin Collins
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The Father, the Son & the Hospital Chaplain

Quintin Collins
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Tooth Fairy

Triston Dabney
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Astral Traveling

Mitchell L. H. Douglas
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ATL

Mitchell L. H. Douglas
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Liner Notes: NWA & the Posse, 1987

Mitchell L.H. Douglas
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, Eric, Sandra, Breonna, George,

Thames J. Ellis
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Courtland

Latorial Faison
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My Beloved Companion,

Danielle Legros Georges
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A Reply of Pauline Opango Lumumba

Danielle Legros Georges
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Joy

c.r. glasgow
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Waterbabies

c.r. glasgow
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Cinderella 2019

Marguerite L. Harrold
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She Sang Jazz Two

Hakim Hasan
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The Butterfly's Effect

isaiah a. hines
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Youtubes My Mom Sends Me

Fatima-Ayan Malika Hirsi
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No Knock Warrant

Sara E. Hughes
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X (Session)

Sara E. Hughes
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Thanksgiving

Sara E. Hughes
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Girl

Sara E. Hughes
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Love Cover Letter

Michael Imossan
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Drills

Chiagoziem Jideofor
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From Migration Letters

M. Nzadi Keita
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Jazz Epistle, Verse 1

Arlene Keizer
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John & Harriet Tubman, 1844

Arlene Keizer
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The Law

Arlene Keizer
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Writing You From a Plague Year

Arlene Keizer
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Blindfold Wonder

Brandon Kilbourne
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A Benevolent Terror

Sequoia Maner
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Tenderloin

Thea Matthews
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Take a Risk

Thea Matthews
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The Potted Plant Dreams of Freedom

Gathondu Mwangi
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The Intimacy of Boda Bodas1

Gathondu Mwangi
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SPF 40

Cynthia Parker-Ohene
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The Tomboy Becomes a Girl

Jassmine Parks
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Séance at the Beauty Parlor

Kimberly Reyes
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Boot Strap Up

Ed Roberson
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Liturgy of Ancestral Flesh & Neuromimetic Circuitry

Terrance Ruff
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Namesake

Rohanna Ssanyu
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Milk Tea with Sengbe Pieh

Rohanna Ssanyu
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Papaya Tree

Rohanna Ssanyu
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Garner on Bay Street

Dana L. Stringer
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#sayunnamed

Dana L. Stringer
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Black Histories, exhibits one to four-and-a-half: A Nonchronological Call & Response

Wendy M. Thompson
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"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" in Four Takes

Tjizembua Tjikuzu
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Momma's Stirred Kitchen Breeze

Dana Tenille Weekes
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White Table Sugar

Dana Tenille Weekes
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FICTION

Hattie Guillory & the One Drop Rule

Celine Aenlle-Rocha
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Kissing Boys

Stephanie Avery
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Other

Emily Capers
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Zephyrine

Ashley J. Hobbs
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Alycia

Megan J. Howell
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Song for a Saturday Night

Eddie Mark
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The Revenant

Kangsen “Yassay” Masango
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Something So Beautiful

Robert Osborne
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Blind Man with a Pistol

Linda Trice
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Flowers

Jade T. Woodridge
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DRAMA/PERFORMANCE

The Substitute

Leodis Smith
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VISUAL ART

Blue Islands

Maroula Blades
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Nigeria Calls

Maroula Blades
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Untitled

Maroula Blades
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through trumpet

shakirah peterson
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baptism under galaxies

shakirah peterson
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FURIOUS FLOWER POETRY PRIZE

On the Winning & Honorable Mention Poems

Tim Seibles
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Love Poem in the Black Field

Ariana Benson
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Black Pastoral: Earlier Fields

Ariana Benson
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Theodicy on My Blackness

Ariana Benson
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On Arthur & August

Benin Lemus
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Black Angels in America

Benin Lemus
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Second Chances

Benin Lemus
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Queensborough

Amy M. Alvarez
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Birthright. Bewitching. Believing.

Janel Cloyd
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The Lost Boys

Vernita Hall
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After We Sip Shug Avery

Oak Morse
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Plantation Etymology

Ashunda Norris
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