Chimezie Umeoka
Distances III
after Christopher Okigbo
The petal burst thread-like against the sun
Awaiting… distant cannibal of the ominous grave.
The children say they will die with their bodies
Empty of dreams; even though the wise man
Tells them stories of the naked earth which
Never drank anything that is not full of life.
I have dreamt of my life emerging from the gun-smoke
With an armored flesh of invincibility, returning
To a mother with eyes like ceiling lights. I have
Imagined a giant growing from this frail body of mine
Whose shoulders and ribs shine like clouds that can
Never be submerged in any coffin of darkness.
I wonder, now at this breathless ground I lay,
With a world toppling over my frame, if
Dreams are things that outlive our bodies?
The Neanderthal ants gather before my eyes
My bones turn flaccid like Harmattan shrubs
And my little Biafran heart overlooks the
Varnishing film graining me into departure
Somewhere, I believe I must be a returning god.
In that land history is trapped in the fading twilight,
Children are sitting at the sandy feet of reincarnation,
History flowing through the veins of destiny,
Destiny as fragment of the universal script.
There are black-skinned watchmen by the neighborhood gate
Strangers are watching by the electric pulpit. The second coming
Will be a voiceless breeze blowing again and again these many times
Through the heathen forest and cities with dying moths,
Like a thief in the Mauritanian night wearing dust-eyes and
Singing cynic songs.
I see it coming, swallower of my fragile bones;
I submit to the ironical perfection of the universe,
I cannot refuse the impatient god twisting the oblong doorknob.
Okigbo fell at the Opi junction in Nsukka while defending Biafra.
Bio:
CHIMEZIE UMEOKA is a writer from Aba, Nigeria. He has appeared in several publications and anthologies and has edited the first student journal in West Africa, The Muse Journal. Including several other awards, Chimezie has been a finalist for the ZODML Poetry Prize and winner of the 2024 Pengician Chapbook Awards. He is the author of the poetry chapbook, MOONCHILD. Chimezie is presently undergoing his undergraduate studies at the English and Literary Studies department in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is the Chief Custodian of The Writers’ Community, UNN.
