Poetry

By

Justice Gift Ogochukwu

DYSPHORIA

the streets have lost their voices

and can only whisper minor notes

to serenade dreams fallen on their chest

flames blossom in their mouths

reducing skins and names to ashes,

punctuating every sentence

in the condolatory speech of the wind

the streets have become purgatories,

where last prayers are crucified upside down

to be purged of fears and tears,

before they ascend through the clouds

to form a halo around the fullness of the moon

the streets are cold in places they shouldn’t

turbans the size of the sky cannot keep them warm

neither can any rod part the sea of tears

on their submerged faces

TALES OF A TENANT SUICIDAL

a pregnant woman rented a room in my dreams

she pays me daily with shadows,

harvested from her farm of silhouettes

yesternight, I saw her crawling on the lip of a dying stream,

trying to rinse out the city in her birth canal

the night before,

I saw the globe between her teeth,

she tried to juice it of its bitter memories,

to kill the sun on the street of her womb

once, she tried to jump off the cliff of my neck

but she is as light as a heart heavy with joy,

so she rode down on the ripples of the wind

tomorrow, she’ll try to kill herself again

by jumping into the fire in my chest

so I need to hold a river in my mouth

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.