Jay Kophy is a Ghanaian poet. His poems are forthcoming and have been featured in literary magazines such as Glass Poetry, Shore Poetry, Kalahari Review, Hellebore, Tampered Press and many others. He is the winner of the inaugural Samira Bawumia Literature Prize in poetry. He is also curator of two anthologies, "to grow in two bodies" and "How to Write My Country's Name". You can find him on Twitter @jay_kophy.

A POEM WHERE GOD IS A PARABLE by Jay Kophy

 

The absence of faith is the beginning of death.
What I call flesh is prayer bound to my bones.

All my prayers begin as songs from my bones
and end with blood instead of amen.

How I wish I began every request with amen,
like when I ask God to let doubt pass from me.

Amen. Oh God. let this sea of doubt pass from me,
for I’ve tried walking on water & almost drowned.

In Noah’s ark, a lost name is replaced with drowned.
In Ghana, anyone who drowns is without a name.

What is the value of a life without a name
to those who believe in what they can only see?

To those who believe in what they can only see,
the absence of faith is the beginning of death.

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