Gboyega Odubanjo 71
Gboyega Odubanjo
A COMPENDIUM ON MR ROSS
Sometimes wore a hat.
Sometimes did not.
Sometimes in a suit.
Sometimes more or less
naked. Very handsome.
Between 25 and 30.
Charm and charisma.
No negative side at all.
Totally sympathetic sort
of chap. Fond of roses.
He did love her. As in
would have. Under different
circumstance. Mr Ross.
As in Jack Ross. Real
man. Known performer.
Dates vary. Also known
as Hutch. Also known as Bill.
As in Mr Bojangles.
As in favoured gigolo
of the high society. As in
happy-go-lucky.
As in squabbler.
Ragga man.
Jújú-on-the-batá man.
Persona non grata.
Swagger regardless.
At your service.
REALNESS
see me see me not
i’m most honest with stage
and lights and bougie
most honest shiny
with bills paid and big shot
husband bentley with big booty
wife and yams on the table
see me glossy
bleached and front cover as if
to say my family name
was worth its weight in peau de soie
as if my daddy famous as if my gran
daddy famous one percent chillin
Gboyega Odubanjo is a British-Nigerian poet born and raised in East London. In 2018 he completed an MA in Poetry at the University of East Anglia. He is a member of the Barbican Young Poets, the Roundhouse Poetry Collective, and (In)Space. Gboyega was longlisted for the 2019 Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry. His pamphlet, While I Yet Live, came out with Bad Betty Press in February 2019.