PARADISE

Flourish Joshua
The old man I give alms to
by the roadside
 
says he'd prepare me a room
in paradise if he got there
before me.
 
I smile. He reminds me
of my grandmother,
 
what she said one evening
before a bowl of her beloved
melon soup:
 
Black, white; the colour of your skin
should never determine the purity
of your heart.
 
If I do not make it to paradise,
I hope God would let me squat
 
in the room the old man
would prepare me.
BIO: 
Flourish Joshua is a Nigerian poet, and a member of the Frontiers Collective. He is the winner of the 2021 Salt Nation Poetry Prize, the 2021 Young Writers and Creatives’ Award (Poetry Category) and finalist of the 2021 NO CONTACT Poetry Prize. He is Associate Poetry Editor at miniskirt magazine, Founding / Poetry Editor of Olúmọ Review, Interview Editor at Eremite Poetry, and a Best of the Net nominee. His works have appeared—or are forthcoming—in London Grip Poetry, Indian Review, miniskirt magazine, Olongo Africa, Blue Marble Review, the Indianapolis Review, Agbowó, Poetry Column-NND, Five South Journal, East French Press, Isele Magazine, Magma Poetry, Pepper Coast Lit, Lumiere Review, and elsewhere.