An Emblem of Wounds by Henry Opeyemi | One Poem Only

One Poem Only · Mar 19, 2026 · 2m

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.

An Emblem of Wounds

Henry Opeyemi

We are in the middle of a conversation, the

reflection of our lives upon glossy waters.

We’re twice the age we used to be, shading

home into grief, into a childhood memory.

there is an ophicleide infused in the distance of

souls, singing into the littleness of a heaven: a

prayer old enough for the heaviness I have carried.

a boy from my childhood recognizes me by a face I no longer wear, by a stillness that was once a scream.

My world is an open wound— a phoenix burning into an…