In Gorgeous Display

Dedicated to the memory of victims of anti-queer violence in Nigeria, Okpara’s elegiac debut explores sexual identity and exile. The poems articulate a sense of the sometimes-contradictory desires of queer Nigerians for acceptance within a society in which such approval is not easily forthcoming: “i desire nothing// but for the city to see me in my lush nakedness// & love me.” The speaker’s burgeoning queer identity leads to conflict with his family, and he struggles to rediscover a sense of kinship with his father: “we begin again, the archival work.// & yet, i am lost in this history./ this erasure sits on my tongue like a sore,/ turning solace into debris yearning/ yet again for the wholeness of exile.// i want him to hold me still/ with no demand of hiding.” Exile offers hope for a found community but is tinged with longing: “like a country i fail to carry on my tongue,/ the wound lingers and eludes language.” This haunting collection charts a lyrical path toward queer selfhood. (Sept.)