Lote Tree Press

31/10/2025

20/10/2025

from the poem “origami lungs” by Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu in her poetry collection “All the Birds Were Invited to a Feast in the Sky”.

19/10/2025

Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu explores themes of African diaspora, identity and faith as a Black Muslim through her compelling verse, navigating a poetic course between London and Ghana.

This is a book which excavates identity and self-knowledge, a journey from the spiritual realm which also attempts to stitch whole the frayed fibres of diasporic belonging. The areas explored range from Africa to spiritual awakening taking the reader on a journey to self.

i share this with you all
because a green boat
has since come to collect me

i saw a ghanaian fisherman
moored on the thames
and i didn’t think twice
as i sailed away

Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu’s verse evokes the beauty of the earthly and spiritual realms of human experience, navigating a poetic course from London to Ghana through themes of belonging and faith.

in the basement of the heart
cartographies of dispossession occupy the rhythm

Her poems dance at the intersection between the mundane and the sacred, weaving the everyday through with perceptions of the eternal, the ancient and the evanescent.

i thumb through each black orb, counting the time
breath and matter, life and death, another human story
with the same rosary that made its way to me
that may outlive my fingers
purchase these nights before they purchase you
rain pouring into the lake at lordship rec
and a hundred and one purple clouds pulsating-
the edge of our galaxy almost visible
through the london smog

17/10/2025

“ruins” by Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu in her poetry collection “All the Birds were Invited to a Feast in the Sky”

07/10/2025

From the poem “equator” by Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu in her poetry collection “All the Birds Were Invited to a Feast in the Sky”.

04/10/2025

“khimar” by Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu in her poetry collection “All the Birds Were Invited to a Feast in the Sky”.

02/10/2025

Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu explores themes of African diaspora, identity and faith as a Black Muslim through her compelling verse, navigating a poetic course between London and Ghana.

This is a book which excavates identity and self-knowledge, a journey from the spiritual realm which also attempts to stitch whole the frayed fibres of diasporic belonging. The areas explored range from Africa to spiritual awakening taking the reader on a journey to self.

i share this with you all
because a green boat
has since come to collect me
i saw a ghanaian fisherman
moored on the thames
and i didn’t think twice
as i sailed away

Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu’s verse evokes the beauty of the earthly and spiritual realms of human experience, navigating a poetic course from London to Ghana through themes of belonging and faith.

in the basement of the heart
cartographies of dispossession occupy the rhythm

Her poems dance at the intersection between the mundane and the sacred, weaving the everyday through with perceptions of the eternal, the ancient and the evanescent.

i thumb through each black orb, counting the time
breath and matter, life and death, another human story
with the same rosary that made its way to me
that may outlive my fingers
purchase these nights before they purchase you
rain pouring into the lake at lordship rec
and a hundred and one purple clouds pulsating-
the edge of our galaxy almost visible
through the london smog

22/09/2025

from the poetry book “Light Steps - A Poem on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ” by Ali Scully

Link in bio

12/09/2025

from the poetry book “Light Steps - A Poem on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ” by Ali Scully

Link in bio

09/09/2025

from Light Steps - A Poem on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by Ali Scully

Link in bio

15/07/2025

Dhu-l Nun al-Misri (d. c 859 CE /245 AH) is said to have been of Nubian decent and was the teacher of the well-known Quran exegete Sahl al-Tusturi who in turn was a teacher of Mansur al-Hallaj. Prayers and poems from Dhul Nun have come down through the ages, and his miracles and mystical knowledge are legendary in oral and popular culture. Although he is known for his focus on knowledge of God or gnosis (ma’rifa) more than fear of God (makhafa) or love of God (mahabba), the following poem attributed to him has more of the devotional quality of a love poem.


I die yet my longing for You does not die
From the sincerity of my love for You
my desires are unobtained
My hope of hopes, of all hopes, You are my hope
The Possessor of all wealth in my neediness
You are the goal of my request, my utmost desire,
the locus of my longings and hidden depths of my secret
In You my heart has endured what I do not tell
No matter how long my plight and love-sickness for You may be drawn out
What is evident to You between my sides from You
Is not apparent to family or to neighbours
From You is a pervading ailment within me
So that my strength has crumbled
and my confidences have become known
Are You not the guide to wayfarers when they are bewildered?
Saviour from the brink of a crumbling precipice
You illuminate the way for those who are guided
When in their hands they do not hold a tenth of a tenth of this light
Grant me forgiveness from You that I may live in its closeness
Save me through ease from You that drives away my difficulties

You can sign up to our course of poetic traditions of the Muslim world to learn more about early Sufi poets. Link in bio

https://lotetreepoetry.thinkific.com/courses/membership