V.
The poet continues to scribble,
fast and hard, hard and fast,
as if his words were alchemy.
Sparrows can tell the distance
between love and death.
The ones lost in the war
have a story different
from what survivors love
to repeat over soup and bread.
The rain raids the south.
Snow storms the north. Worlds apart.
Tsunami parodies God’s wrath;
typhoon makes a fool of man’s genius.
The wind rolls across any field it picks.
Oranges thud to the earth, ripen, rot.
Maggots grow in the fattest of flesh, too,
generous and impartial,
like many politicians’ handshakes.
VI.
Far off, a boy unlearns the magic of alphabets,
his life stretched across an expanse of tubers;
elsewhere, another boy prances around the park,
his friends hurrah him down the slides,
their delight a middle finger to precautions:
The wheels of the world go
round and round
round and round
round and round.
At home, they’ll wolf down pizza and soda.
At home, they’ll sip milk and cookies.
VII.
At last, the poet is worn out.
There is no end
to the run of imagination.
He breaks into a singsong:
This is the world as is.
As is.
This is the world as is.
As is.
The world as is.
As is.
The world.
As.
Is. As. Is.
6 Comments
These are beautiful verses. Uche is vastly gifted.
Wow! Just Wow! I’d say I don’t read poetry but this got me hooked from the first poem to the last. I particularly love “Imagine a Land” and all the seven verses of “A Poet Sees a New World.” Sorry, poet; sorry, readers; sorry, world, even, “this is the world as is.”
Brilliant poems
I love it!!
I love how Uche sees the ordinary through the lenses of imaginary. The imagery is so touching, so tangible. I especially love these lines:
“a chief orders some youth
to blow up their heritage,
another chief attempts to snatch history
and his blood tells the rest of the story.”
I read better poems from the author. There are too much descriptions in the poems. Metaphors, a poem should simply be, not trying to be. More prose here than poetry. Yeah, ive read better poems of Uche but hey , good outting. Keep flipping your gifts.