Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Praise for The Years of Blood iii
3. Dedication vii
4. Contents ix
5. Wind 1
6. Part I.
7. Ìbàdàn 5
8. Sọ́kà 7
9. We daydreamed of angels 9
10. Unfound 10
11. In which the morning after, a boy’s body had been dismembered 11
12. Empty 12
13. Ghost of a Dead Boy Writes from Sọ́kà 13
14. hoax 15
15. Salt water 17
16. Bámiṣé 18
17. Night, prayer 20
18. Portent 22
19. Part II.
20. Boys who never die 25
21. Entrance 28
22. Sonnet with Blood Everywhere 30
23. Fine boy writes a poem about anxiety 31
24. Doomsday 39
25. Arrival 41
26. Sonnet with severed limbs 45
27. Springfield 46
28. the abduction 48
29. It begins with gratitude & ends in rage 49
30. Baba omo 51
31. Two Boys, Their Mother & the Face 52
32. Disappearance 54
33. Part III.
34. Before the dark 57
35. Ruin 58
36. Wishbone 59
37. The Dark 61
38. The fig 63
39. In which the horse saddles 64
40. In the dark 66
41. Pariboto riboto 67
42. Lilac 68
43. On joy 71
44. Brown 72
45. Migration 74
46. Part IV.
47. Prelude, Christma 79
48. Ileya 80
49. Waiting for Her Son 81
50. These days of varnishing 82
51. Year of blood 85
52. Litany in which my father returns home safely at night 86
53. Glossary 89
54. Acknowledgments 95
55. About the Author 98
56. Poetic Justice Institute Series Publications 99