Okoro Emmanuel Chukwuebuka is a creative writer and a passionate volunteer. He won the 2019 edition of Korea-Nigeria Poetry Prize (Junior Category).
Replicating Dead Figures
I’ve watched father light up a match stick__
and paint his world with darkness.
His dead lips,
rumpled shirt, teary eyes;
of pain, regret & cigarettes.
He buried his eyes in the ocean,
as he watched how the dolphins play
in the midst of chaos, with a taunt of disgust.
My today was his yesterday.
He shot glances through the mirror_
facing his cap towards my future.
Bending and shaping me, at every
default_
to look perfect before the world
sees me.
I saw him as a speechless figure;
whose eyes grill my flesh before
a (pounce) – a heavy diet he served
in mother’s plate of grief/ until
her exit.
He found solitude in these trenches,
feeding milk of knowledge, and diluting
gins of poverty.
I saw the bad light.
The errors of a devil who loves dearly_
pruning his seeds to grow beautifully
in the midst of thorns.
I craved for his absence,
while others dreamt of a long-
standing hero__
a legend and more.
Today, I’m a roaming
bird seeking a home in my body_
to breathe, live & exhale.
This heart keeps failing, after
passing through this same path_
the burning bush; which guts after a lit.
I aced my father’s fears, with my lungs
longing for death call.
Contributor’s Bio
Okoro Emmanuel Chukwuebuka is a creative writer and a passionate volunteer. He loves art and is inspired by God and nature. His poem ‘Emergence’ has won the 2019 edition of Korea-Nigeria Poetry Prize (Junior Category) and He is a Joint winner of the Feast of words (FOW) on-spot writing contest 2021. His works have appeared in literary collections, magazines and anthologies. Find him on Instagram @_theceo
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