The Illusionist

Nana T. Baffour-Awuah

Today, I cannot make my ashes into art;

all my hands hold are burnt offerings

I cannot conjure rays of hope from the viscous darkness

because there is no magic there

or here

No sweetness here

amongst the heaved hopes and perished efforts

Only the stage and ashes

and your quiet dismay

Nana T. Baffour-Awuah (he/him) is a Ghanaian writer and editor currently based in New York. His poems, short stories, and essays have been published in Brittle Paper, Chronogram, Raven Review, African Writer, North Meridian Review, HuffPost, Sierra Nevada Review, and elsewhere. His work has also been anthologized, most recently in Creative Stillness (Gatekeeper Press, 2026) and Smitten with the Written (Arcana Poetry Press, 2026). Nana is a poetry editor for The Hummingbird and a reader for Callaloo. He is working on his first book. IG: @whatnanawrote

The Illusionist

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