By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
43. Night without a moon
It comes the millipede creep,
Sipping and swallowing
With gentle mouth
That is set above.
In its cryptic bowels
Without a moon at hand,
All are alike voluptuous or not,
Leaving only guess and grope.
Up above the mountains
Glowing stars not so bright,
Remember for us
The beauty that is the day.
At its due,
The cilia legged,
Its lullaby gone goes
But for another turn.
44. My imagination
Alone with the morning by our riverbank;
While the birds sang,
And soft breeze caressed the trees,
I imagined.
Still there,
When the sun came from behind,
Then got red with fury,
But told me nothing.
When the Sun left,
And the last river’s guests departed,
I was still there barren and barefooted,
Left with a distant owl singing without joy.
How happy will I be
When my prayers comes?
In my imagination,
I will be a bright day, safe and simple.
Victor Chukwuma, Professor of Physics, renowned for his immense contribution to the development of Astronomy and Space Science in Nigeria, is a Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Physics.
