These two poems by F.O.C Ikwuemesibe are rich with relatable imageries that provoke reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental consciousness. Each line reverberates with a certain tenderness that is difficult to name. I am very delighted to share these beautiful pieces with you.

Ehi-kowoicho Ogwiji, Editor-in-Chief.

I Want to Keep You…

(An Ode to 2020)

let me keep you

though you are tough

and everyone hates covid

you brought it to us

now it is your garb

even in that

I want to keep you.

you gave me gifts

one is a new home

without my mother

a new post without

money,

and a new image

inside a gallery of

images.

how could i have thought

to survive an abject year

in multiples of thousand

currencies?

let people hate you ever

I’ll love you again since

you gave the blocks

to check my fears!

I See the Earth

I see the earth amoving

With load on her shoulders

The earth moves like a snake

As if her central alignment loosened

And the contents of her collection rattling

I see the the earth moving down

A slope of slippery terrain

Her weight telling on her legs

That had traversed her tracks

Uncountable rounds of tedious treks

Near a bend where humans drop

Their wastes the earth tumbles

I see our earth, an overworked labourer

Labouring to keep her balance

On a slippery road near a cluttered bend

But her passengers fool away

Burning and toasting and frying

Viruses which add to her weight.

One day the earth will fall

And so shall all our misdeeds 

Contributor’s Bio

F. O. C. Ikwuemesibe is a retired school master and passionate enthusiast of poetry and poetry activities. He presently coordinates for Bishop Evans Ibeagha Ibeagha Juniorate, Oba, Anambra State, where he reclines in retirement. Ikwuemesibe is the author of The Big Man and Other Poems. He can be reached via email at felixikwuemesibe@gmail.com.

Read a review of The Big Man and Other Poems By F. O. C. Ikwuemesibe