The Incoming Sun

The hummingbird of Lagos, I, will stay for the incoming sun,
reciting all the verses on the petals of blossoms.

Through winter, I have held back the butterflies,
in my stomach from flying out,
I will, until my fire is quenched, consume regrets.

My mind is a symphony of love carols,
My body is an exhibition of memories.

Of all the darlings I didn't behold,
Out of this, my coy mistress, this songster,
saying every move I make will make me a jewel
in the seabed of despair.

Would my father know my mom by embracing
the flimsy vocalists in his nerves?

In the coffee shop where you steal the gaze of flowers,
And yearn for the coffee entering your mouth to be tenderness,
the kind of tenderness with which you build laughter nests,
where you will place your head for rest.

This too I desire—the incoming sun,
in whose landscape I shall hum my empathy.


Dusk 

We have normalized eating dusk in the cafeteria of life,
Every day breaks with a knife that prays into our bodies,
We are phantoms chewing on the bones of despair.

There are too many ants in my heart
Stinging the little part of me trying to stay alive,
The remnant of the light in the custodian
of darkness is being harassed by the wings
of vultures that devour the skin of the sun.

How much more will our bones scream
Out light,
And leave us as vacuums that welcome featherless birds,

On a dinner table where our spoons try to seize
A little moment to crackle,
Earthquake took over my sister's body,
And our tongues went sour with sorrow.

This darkness raining like memories of war,
In the hands of a boy holding the skull of his mother,
Has engulfed my spirit,
And our home convulses.

The walls are falling apart to the mockery of my broad nose,
At this moment, I am a snail wishing to stay safe,
In my shell,
To nurture my ambitions that are not lost.

Philip Chijioke Abonyi, a native of Nsukka, Nigeria, is a writer and photographer. His exceptional talent has garnered him several awards, including the 2022 Brigitte Poirson Poetry Prize and the 2023 Archipelago Poetry Competition. Notably, Philip was shortlisted for the renowned Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize in 2018. His remarkable literary and visual creations have been showcased in esteemed publications like Eve magazine, Agape Review, Typehouse magazine, and other notable platforms. It is his desire to continue to inspire audiences, leaving an enduring impact on the creative landscape.