By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
65. Torments
In the end, this life will be over
Then shall I begin to live.
Since I have not lived
All this while.
Years and months
Days and moments of joy
Float past my stationary door,
Without a print of foot.
I cannot see the light,
To side step the loop,
The future made of quicksand locks
The door, leaving spikes for a handle.
Now I can hear loud call
A call on a gruesome tone
Breaking my only alabaster
The ornament decorating my table
I shall then die,
I hold men for my death,
But by these hands I shall not die,
Woe the hands that undertakes the chore.
66. Diaspora
My blood cries for its kin
looking forward
to the journey back home,
back to the night sweet tales.
My echoes shall not long
stay here;
my vacuum shall soon die.
Remember me to my bloods,
while I wait for my season.
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.