By The Shadows

By the shadows suddenly I stopped and got down from the motorbike
How beautiful the place!
The green paddy field made the view a green carpet
By the way it stands the large tree
The shadows beacon --------
O dear, please be seated
At least halt a little and take the fresh breath in me
On the subconscious mind I heard the sound
The leafy tree spoke out in the silence
I lost myself closing the eyes
I lost myself in the shade and sun from gaps of the leaves
In midst of wind, shade and sun the blood springs as the dancing beats 
And lost in thy love that calms my heart and eyes
No caption - it's always a place you stand by
Let's go - that green horizontal world waiting for us. 

Through a crack in the wall, 

I see nothing. 

I hear a faint swirl of mutters and creaks and nothing. 

I sense a fear,

From me or the crack in the wall?

From me.


Eye to the hole, 

I stare and stare,

But nothing is nothing is nothing. 

I see nothing,

I hear nothing,

I sense nothing. 


Yet when I am far from the crack in the wall,

I see it,

I hear it,

I sense it. 


The crack in the wall is made up of nothing,

Yet it makes me feel the most of everything. 

I am it. 

Which makes me nothing.

Before I Was Born 

the night before I was born

cloudy night sent me

tons of muse n' caged me on sit


the night before I was born

my life became the only

image my eyelid pledged patriotism


the night before I was born

nightmare became my company

while I'm paranoid by unknown guilt


the night before I was born

I became friend to my future

while my past shallowed tunnel of memory


the night before I was born

I had this writing as prophecy

and for I couldn't wait to write 

it's end, I'm here to attest the living.

the floor still wet
with mourning…
oh Abiku —
with pain & suffering
death returns her again




weeding
holy the field
ardor in every breath
delivers
deliverance




sunlight —
her eyes piercing 
through …
underwater 
swim




winter's
a true relief
from heat
while birds overwinter
in the tropics




yawning —
idle on the bed's edge
to and fro of army ant
contemplating 
what to do


Christina Chin / Uchechukwu Onyedikam

Maniacal Drama

Extremism to its extreme

The iliad twice over

Yet missing more than

A hundred thousand soldiers

There's a killer on the loose

The new pennywise

The curtains haven't closed yet

This story isn’t near its end

Quiet panic

Tension is high

Cross your fingers and

Pray there's no encore

No more-

Chekhov's gun is on the wall

“La forza del destino”

Graffitied on the bathroom stall

The spotlight’s gone dark

The lead is dead

We pity the poor soul

Who found the queen’s head

The show must go on

Sanity is hanging on by just a thread

Everything’s gone wrong

And the stage is half set

We’re only in act three

Nobody knows where the prop manager went

Iago is carrying the head of Marie Antoinette

Exit stage left

Keep your eye on the apron-

The hit list is too long

Suspicion is high

Biases are burning

Don’t blink

It’s all a lie

Romeo is dead now

So is Snow White

Mufasa has fallen

Spock said goodbye

And Rose couldn’t save

Her poor young lover’s life

The audience is cheering

It all looked so authentic

News reports nineteen civilians have gone missing