Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo
Poetry Book Society Special Commendation Autumn 2024 TS Eliot Prize On the one hand

On the one hand

and the sense of alienation and depersonalisation of human beings in our time

”   — The Rev Dr Rose Hudson-Wilkin

Sea Change

Adam by Gboyega Odubanjo<br><b>Poetry Book Society Special Commendation Autumn 2024</b> TS Eliot Prize On the one handOn 21 September 2001, the torso of a black boy was discovered in the River Thames, near Tower Bridge in central London, clothed only in an orange pair of girls shorts. Given the name Adam by police officers, the unidentified boy was between four and eight years old. What comes next cannot without a story of water and offering. The sun shines and we gather because the river allows it. Na from clap dem dey enter dance. We enter with, and as, Adam.