Derek Owusu > Quotes

“I’m watching the day through a breeze blown slice in my curtains, obscuring nothing but my hour, summer and wind making peace, moving the leaves in the trees standing guard by my window, nervous after my attempts, the sun stroking fronds but leaving others in shadows, seeing the movement of the branches but hearing nothing but the serene sound of cars beyond the garden, limbs waving to me as a bird perches, maybe scouting for a house, onto the bough scratching the glass, knocking to bring me out into contentment while tiny flies shoot in and out of view, their quick existence something I could argue as I smell the fresh air through the dour scent of a depression that hasn’t left my room in days, then swiftly feeling like I’m outside, alive and welcoming the wind to raise the hairs on my arms, a contrast that blossoms into hope.”
― Derek Owusu, That Reminds Me

“After a late-night library trip I’d call her and say, ‘Look at the moon.’ Black boys rarely speak on the poet’s muse so these twilight tropes seemed original – the moon is glowing new when seen through eyes deprived of cliché.”
― Derek Owusu, That Reminds Me

“I think, I think life means less if everyone knows about it, if you get what I mean?
Like, special moments are special because they're personal.”
― Derek Owusu, Hunger Pains

“Anansi, your four gift s raised to Nyame grant you no power over the stories I tell, stories that build like dew, alerting you but creating no music when they drop onto the drums of our sky. Take my ‘gift ’, words bound in time, directly to him and tell me if his features betray recognition or sorrow.”
― Derek Owusu, That Reminds Me

“Personally, I don't really like showing people what I'm reading or talking about it. It's something I like keeping to myself, get me. Like, I don't judge people who like discussing their books and all that, like book clubs and shit like that. That's just not for me. I'm spending proper intimate time with the book and I ain't trying to share that with just anybody. More time nobody.”
― Derek Owusu, Hunger Pains

“The funny thing about love is that it comes and goes but people chat about it like it's forever. I didn't really notice this until I started fucking with Temi. Yeah, you don't always feel it, but inside of it, and what it's left inside of you, there are other things like hope and fascination. Things like respect that keep it alive, if you get me.”
― Derek Owusu, Hunger Pains

“I wanted to live again. As they gathered, I felt the pressure of each tear awake to its own trickling sand weighing down the dirt on my grave.”
― Derek Owusu, That Reminds Me

“As I walk home, doubting each step before I make it, I am agnostic. Before I close my eyes to sleep, I am a Christian. When I wake, pulled from the pool still reflecting the penumbra, I am spiritual, I am thankful”
― Derek Owusu, That Reminds Me

“Obviously I didn't wanna die. That's the whole reason I stopped eating ultra-processed food. This was just supposed to be about self-control. Reaching a goal. Being pure muscle, no soft bits, no fat. But the fear was a next ting. And I didn't want my mum to clock what was going on, either. So I just agreed to go. And I sat in my GP's office until an ambulance came and picked me up.”
― Derek Owusu, Hunger Pains

“Anansi, your four gifts raised to Nyame grant you no power over the stories I tell, stories that build like dew, alerting you but creating no music when they drop onto the drums of our sky. Take my ‘gift ’, words bound in time, directly to him and tell me if his features betray recognition or sorrow.”
― Derek Owusu, That Reminds Me