Frank Ocean publishes poem, photo series “Jumbo”

Silhouette of a man, Ysham Jackson, behind a poem running across two pages, which is stylized in all lower case and uses a Helvetica font.

“Jumbo,” Boys Don’t Cry, pp. 204–205.

In his new magazine, Boys Don’t Cry, Frank Ocean shared a verse and photographic series titled “Jumbo” that features his friend Ysham Jackson modeling outfits styled by fashion director Rita Zebdi. The photos across all 22 pages were captured by Ocean in Manhattan, New York, including an image of Ysham with a tab of acid on his tongue, which Ocean used on one of three magazine covers. The poem spans two pages and consists of six double-spaced lines, mostly in lowercase, with no punctuation, set against Ysham’s silhouette.

A transcript of the poem and scans of the magazine are available below. The photoshoot’s apparel and accessories, as noted by Zebdi, are listed in the image descriptions, visible after selecting a photo in the gallery.


Transcript:

saturday i'll wake up in central london
stretched out lil low on serotonin
cus last night was extra'd out
place both knees on the ground
then ask God what he's talking about
before i kiss him on the mouth
God himself breathed in and out
last night i had a dream,
Gyllenhaal on a mountaintop
holding on two stone tablets with ten commandments
and a flower crown power couple propaganda pamphlet
black panther and white panther
you could run the jungles sleeping free on the tree branches
no light pollution
look how slow all the life is moving once you get your heart racing
today if i survive i'll let my feet leave the ground
levitations and revelations
take me up in your rapture now

Editor’s Notes: Line breaks were added to the text for readability. The capitalization is unchanged. The word pamphlet is misspelled as “phamphlet” in the magazine.


Scans:

Select a photo above or below to view it fullscreen.

Outtake; ritazebdi.com.

Boys Don’t Cry magazine cover.


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