By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
24. War
Hurricane,
Tornado,
Thunderstorm.
What else?
Then,
Graves and wailing tongues,
Swollen eyes and hazed minds,
Despaired many and a very happy few.
25. Our Virgins Flight
They called him something,
Something we heard
Not clearly behind the doors.
Maybe they meant apparition
Out in the moonlight for their flesh.
Their ebony back shone in their flight,
The beads around their waist danced,
Writing on his eyes
The dignity of virginity:
The village pride.
Behind the tree,
He stood rooted,
Slave not of their song: a slave of his device.
Only the gods knew his thought,
Before the damsels saw him.
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.