Poetry

By

Justice Gift Ogochukwu

Becoming

the shadows that visit me do not come with name-tags

so i do not know which left its tongue in my mouth

and smithereens of broken moans

that are stuck in my vocal cord

people throw rotten names at me

the splatter is paint for the fence around my heart

to keep the spent-layer that lays brown shelled feelings

my prayers hang on the end of a crescent

and fall back to me with a sacred stench

when the moon reaches puberty

so i am afraid to empty my heart of heavy words

many shadows have opened my door

leaving sooty dark stains on the knob

so those that come with a bouquet of songs

leave with a souvenir

small voices in my head

sing songs with dark notes

that stain my tongue and breath

so that i’m slowly becoming one of them…

a shadow

Justice Gift Ogochukwu

Justice Gift Ogochukwu is a Nigerian poet from Delta state. He is a student of Agricultural Economics who loves art. He writes to express his thoughts and fears.