LUCIUS NDIMELE
SUNDAY MORNING
Cock crows escort a staggering thought to
the church bell. I wake up searching for
myself among scattered verses…
on the way, a child picked and returned a
broken piece of me. It was a wilting hibiscus,
a two-teeth smile, a half-eaten biscuit.
I wonder why the trees keep staring at me.
Maybe they have never seen a sun beautiful in
black, a song more fitting in silence…
9am, lies walk in, each striking in their hired
righteousness, they say Jesus is the black in
peat, from peat, our sutured words sprout
hydrangea,
They say we must know how to fold a storm
into verses, sift rainbow from a stray wind, colour
each moment with its hues, angle for stars in
our teardrops.
I light my soul with these tempered sermons, there
are so many paths within me, they all lead
no where.
CANDLELIGHT
A broken shadow sprouts from your smile,
regrets trickle down the stretch of your rumination,
these are nights one is not enough for himself…
The kora in your soul sings; I hear it!
the old forest nesting wild memories,
made young by every advent of rain
the old priest painting the back of God into
the stained glass of his beliefs hears it,
the long dream, resting on the thighs of a
spiritless night hears it.
an ode to a broken spirit
You have only known happiness as a shadow,
budding under camera lights, but when the
lights sleep, and it does,
The kora in your soul sings, I hear it!
An ode to the forgotten.
LUCIUS NDIMELE
is a poet and writer. He is the author of three poetry collections, The Wandering Voice, and A Thousand Fading Tales both published by Omojololo in Ibadan, and A Tale of Ash published by Geko Publishing in South Africa. His works have appeared on several literary anthologies and magazines. Lucius Ndimele lectures at the Abia State University, Uturu.
