Poetry

Mike Wilson

By

Ugwu Leonard Elvis

The dead peacock

When you hear gun shots,

When you hear gongs that foresee danger,

When you smell rumors that damage the lungs,

Know that one just released a silent gas through his anus,

Know that a peacock is dead,

Know that houseflies have perched on flowers.

The world is empty,

It has nothing and we depart with nothing,

The world is something because it gave me a pen that generations will keep me alive,

What I come to do is what keeps life in me,

I will go with something crested in people’s minds,

The dead will hum my name and the living will chant my name

But I am no God!

Whence this secret I spill is known by all men,

Life is a huge gift, yet nothing to behold,

Yet life is no gift if you got nothing to pronounce your name.

A trombone will blow all living peacocks to sleep

And the dead peacocks will roam around streets.

Money is just a paper,

Fame is not reputation,

Sex is always a history,

Life is a golden gold.

We keep our choices today

Never to be a dead peacock tomorrow.

Ugwu Leonard Elvis

Ugwu Leonard Elvis, also known as “Leonard D Great”, was born and brought up in Nsukka, Enugu Nigeria. He hails from Nkalagu-obukpa in Igbo-Eze south local government area Enugu state, Nigeria. He started writing stories and his thoughts at the age of seven, obtaining his Bsc in Political science at Caritas University, Amorji Nike Emene Enugu, Nigeria, and has currently applied for his Masters programme(MSc) on international relations at university of Nigeria Nsukka.

He is a poet, playwrite, short story writer, prose writer, and also a writer of what he termes ‘prose-poeta’. Equally he is a lover of literary and creative works of art though he has more literary works yet unpublished but going through editing such as the prose “in Alexandria”, “Zinjanthropus” (a prose-poeta) and a play “virgins are foolish”. In the field of poetry he is an award winning poet, where he attended his high school, he was the best editor of the year 2012 (via Caulaa blog at wordpress); in the year 2013 he was awarded the best poet, that same year his poem “Leonard is back” won the best poem of the year; in 2014 he won the best poet again  and was given the current best writer in his institution before he graduated, with his write up it was obvious he was an activist.

Currently he is president of the World Union of Poets (WUP) Enugu chapter Nigeria, and also the coordinator of the Creative Writers Association of Nigeria (CWAN) Enugu state chapter. His poems have been published in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers and websites,and has equally contributed and championed notable poetry anthologies pertaining world peace, in addition to having been elected in the top ten poets list of the Pengician website in 2016.

Leonard sees the world as that which was erected by poets. He sees Soyinka’s work as his next work to beat; though he sees him as his literary god… his first works can also be found in Google.