In Sunflowers and Sunburns, Joshua Effiong shares what we would like to refer to as the recipe of hope. With his rich language and vivid imageries, he draws a map with which a person in a grim situation can navigate tempestuous waters to the shore of tranquility to “await the resurrection of the sun”. We enjoyed every line of this poem and we know you would too!

– Editorial Team

Of nights and moons with blue lights.
Of the things that have mould this skin:
thick, strong and black,
like the colour of palm kernel.
Of needles finding shelter in the fabric of hope.
Of hands seeking answers in the hole of these hearts;
a home to many black holes.
Of downloaded smiles from many untraceable sites.
Of the flickering eyelids, dangling
with questions.

Of mother’s sonority slowly traveling with the wind,
fading into groans and whispers.
Of the sedimentation of wishes.
Of the many cheers we give to the past we try not to refix.
Of suffering and smiling.
Of harvested girls too unripe for feasting.
Of overnight men still memorizing the psalms of boys.

Of Sunflowers and Sunburns.
Of bodies trying to find rooms to staple tunes of laughters.
Of laughters laughed with a sour tooth;
lips that still sing stories to children under the shade of trees.
Here memories fold itself into the shelves of hearts.
Of all of us who write poems without even knowing it.
Of all of what is broken, that has made me.
You will realize that I am a flowerpot
with seeds, awaiting
the resurrection of the sun.

About the Author

Joshua Effiong is a Nigerian writer and a lover of literature. When he is not writing, he is reading, watching movies and listening to music. An undergraduate of Science Laboratory Technology. He lives in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. And here he writes from. You can find him on Instagram @josh.effiong

Photo by Pixaby in Pexels