Olatunde Osinaike

YES TO THE HUSTLE

To the outrageous,
the proven

parachute.
My best,

a memory
someone promised me

I could live in,
until 

it became
a partnership

suiting
no one.

Wait
what was

their name?
Mere game,

a premise
of corners

cutting
those closest.

In my circles,
we round

up
to the price

it takes
to blank our

bridges.
Omniscience,

need I remind you,
is for the feisty

who supply supply
its demanding

riddle. Me,
this inflatable

of a man
muttering belief

you could work
a dream

with benefits.
Take it from me

like autopay,
like a transaction

I’ll have
screenshots of

to keep me
company.

OLATUNDE OSINAIKE is a Nigerian-American poet, essayist, and software developer originally from the West Side of Chicago. He is the author of Tender Headed (Akashic Books, 2023), winner of the 2022 National Poetry Series. His work has received support from Poets & Writers, the Hurston/Wright Foundation, the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, and the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice at Rutgers University. He lives in Atlanta.