Tolu Oloruntoba
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toluini.bsky.social
Tolu Oloruntoba
@toluini.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.4K following 1.8K posts
Bumbler, quitter of things, poet, and project management person (in that order).

New Collection: UNRAVEL (McClelland & Stewart, 2025).

Opinions mine. https://bio.site/tolu.ca he/him
Posts Replies Media Videos
toluini.bsky.social
Reminds me of the poem “What Birds Were” by Chimwemwe Undi.
WHAT BIRDS WERE Yes, animals, and small, and spined - no, not unlike a dog, say dog, but with feathers. And not always, and not always small. Oh, a feather is a kind of leaf. They were good, the birds, yes, and some of them were kind of bad. They made eggs - you've seen an egg, remember? Oh, flight is a kind of movement that acknowledges its limitations. A beak is like a sharp mouth. This same sky, say sky, but blue, and before falling - and you would look and there would be - yeah, small animal, that's close, with a body of bones so light it grew wings, say wings, instead of hands.
November 10, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
stevecooke.org
The story of Abraham & Isaac is one that has Abraham abandon humanity. He puts faith above love & relationships. Whether he thinks God will return Isaac to him is less relevant than that he doesn‘t think his choice should matter to those he professes to love.
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
toluini.bsky.social
A central premise of Ian McEwan’s novel WHAT WE CAN KNOW. Only I believe the UK was even more of an archipelago than the illustration in the repost.
profbillmcguire.bsky.social Prof Bill McGuire @profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 5d
With a return to the Pliocene locked-in, the only meaningful question is, will we stop there or maintain BAU until a return to the Middle Miocene becomes inevitable or - ultimately - the early Eocene?

If the latter, this is what the UK will eventually look like
November 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
upfromsumdirt.bsky.social
well, well, well... what have we here?

40% OFF ALL BOOKS (hard or soft cover!) AT UPK WHEN USING FROSTY25 AT CHECKOUT?

👁👁
hey... that includes my book!!
👁👁

& GOOD UNTIL JANUARY THE WHAT?!?!? 👀👀

www.kentuckypress.com
photo of The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife poetry collection screenshot of website's holiday sale banner advertising 40% off all books when using frosty25 at checkout
November 8, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
heatherchristle.bsky.social
I really love Elliot's readings.
1t2ls.bsky.social Elliot @1t2ls.bsky.social · 7d
Today’s poem: Heather Christle, “The Running of Several Simulations at Once May Lead to Murky Data”
#lunchpoems
November 6, 2025 at 4:16 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Congratulations to Karen Solie!
houseofanansi.bsky.social House of Anansi Press @houseofanansi.bsky.social · 6d
🏆 The WINNER of the 2025 Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry is ...

✨ WELLWATER by Karen Solie! ✨

🔗 Learn more about WELLWATER here: https://houseofanansi.com/products/wellwater #GGBooks #GGBooks2025
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 PM
toluini.bsky.social
I just know the producers of “A House of Dynamite” were livid when “Paradise” came out. I can’t say more without spoilers.
November 6, 2025 at 1:25 AM
toluini.bsky.social
I remain in Jana’s debt for this.
jana-aych-ess.bsky.social Jana H-S (they/she) @jana-aych-ess.bsky.social · 8d
oh, hey. I lent @toluini.bsky.social some words for the title of one of the poems in unravel. I haven't read the book yet, but the poem "It is common for an animal, even in death, to resist its own deconstruction." is fantastic. you should pick this up, if you get a chance
upfromsumdirt.bsky.social upfromsumdirt @upfromsumdirt.bsky.social · 8d
some mighty wonderful poetry; tolu is an amazing writer, yall...
November 5, 2025 at 1:26 AM
toluini.bsky.social
Negative royalty statements on all 3 books. I should perhaps…promote the books a bit?
a cat with a sad look on its face is asking for please
Alt: Gif of Puss in Boots with cute kitten eyes holding his hat and saying “Please.”
media.tenor.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
mitsubishe.bsky.social
happy "the car clock is finally correct" day to all who celebrate
November 2, 2025 at 3:57 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Yesterday while doing dishes I figured out how to arrange this book. I think I have a way back in!
November 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
toluini.bsky.social
I was finally able to schedule an hour in a dark room to listen to Mac Miller’s “Good News” on repeat. Mac’s sad boy speaks to mine.
November 1, 2025 at 5:49 PM
toluini.bsky.social
“Look upon me,
an implacable hand broken
on the skulls of assailants…”

feudal.substack.com/p/no-thing-b...
October 30, 2025 at 8:50 PM
toluini.bsky.social
I’m not saying the Gabby’s Dollhouse dance party my kids are having is interrupting the miserable morning I was having, but I’m not *not* saying that either.
October 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Stabbed through the heart by this passage from Isaac Fellman’s THE TWO DOCTORS GÓRSKI.
"Well," said Ariel, "you must forgive yourself" "Why? I ruined somebody's life." Ariel's face turned to hers, and in it there was a kind of puzzled pity. He looked, for the first time, like Marec. He said, "If you don't forgive yourself, you will do it again. Not that thing, perhaps, but something as bad. And you must not stop there. You must forgive yourself for all of it, for everything that happened before you did this, both the things that were your fault and the things that were not. You must forgive yourself and do it again, until the very limit of your forgiveness is reached. It will hurt. People don't understand that it hurts. When you have for-given, you will be able to look at yourself, and then you will be able to change. Not before.”
October 24, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
siwc.bsky.social
We were heartbroken to have to cancel this year’s SiWC. We want to continue to provide an inclusive, welcoming & career-expanding experience for years to come. We're running a GoFundMe to help secure the future of SiWC. Please help if you can by boosting or donating. Thank you! gofund.me/5b4760382
Donate to Support the Surrey International Writers' Conference!, organized by Jenn Striemer
For thirty-two years, the Surrey International Writers’ Conference… Jenn Striemer needs your support for Support the Surrey International Writers' Conference!
gofund.me
October 23, 2025 at 5:13 PM
toluini.bsky.social
The fine folks at carte blanche published my poem, “Broken Windows Theory” in their transformation issue. Sincere thanks to the editors carteblanchemagazine.com/issue-52/olo...
Broken Windows Theory — carte blanche magazine
Poetry by Tolu Oloruntoba From the entropic raft of my body I surmise the heat death of the universe.
carteblanchemagazine.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
samrasnake.bsky.social
The sky’s white with November’s teeth,
and the air is ash and woodsmoke.
A flush of color from the dying tree,
a cargo train speeding through, and there,
that’s me, standing in the wintering
grass watching the dog suffer the cold
leaves. I’m not large from this distance,
just a fence post
Ada Limón
The sky’s white with November’s teeth, and the air is ash and woodsmoke. A flush of color from the dying tree, a cargo train speeding through, and there, that’s me, standing in the wintering grass watching the dog suffer the cold leaves. I’m not large from this distance, just a fence post Ada Limón
October 14, 2025 at 2:01 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Wondrous things I’ve encountered in Premee Mohamed’s THE SIEGE OF BURNING GRASS:

vibration-activated lightspiders in a glass enclosure, for illumination; limb regeneration; bio-engineered wasps that can deliver analgesics and antibiotics in cadence.

I haven’t even gotten to the war pterodactyls!
October 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Wait I dig this remake of Neal Stephenson’s SNOW CRASH.
October 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Just finished creating my slides for the MacEwan reading on Wednesday and I find myself quite proud of myself.

It’s a strange feeling (since I struggle with self-worth issues) but reviewing 6 years of published work has given me a good zoomed-out view.
October 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Back to the dreadful and delightful Jackson Lamb. His hair looks even smellier this season.
October 13, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
upfromsumdirt.bsky.social
kyla houbolt
ONE FROG

from her chapbook collection, But Then I Thought
One Frog Tonight one frog sings outside. It's no country for rain. I live far away. but I can hear this one frog, it's a loud frog, alone in some creek or other. in a county of two lane roads that twist in the dark. Still there is comfort here because somewhere glimmering among the darkened trees is a lighted window. An old man and his nephew sit inside, whittling. They're making toys. One makes a small cart with rolling wheels: the other makes a dog with a wagging tail. There are no children nearby, not even in the neighboring counties, so one might wonder who the toys are for. But the old man and his nephew don't seem concerned: they iust keep whittling. Occasionally one of them smiles. The shavings go into the fire. The frog sings. The roads twist in the dark. The creek is low. One day it might rain.
October 5, 2025 at 2:22 PM
toluini.bsky.social
Is waking up in tears a sign of life stress? Asking for a friend.
October 4, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Tolu Oloruntoba
robinjohnson.bsky.social
(Bob Marley writing drafts)
I'm gonna be steel like an eel in Biel

I'm gonna be tin like a pangolin in Turin

I'm gonna be lead like a hammerhead in Hampstead

I'm gonna be zincy like a minke in Helsinki
October 3, 2025 at 6:35 PM