Portrait of a Bleak Future
Today, I held a clandestine meeting with
the voices in my head & they went berserk.
The disarray disrobed me of light.
Say, my heart assumed the silhouette of a
woman nurturing her aches like a tender
tulip in the dead of night. I’m docile to
nothing but growth. Once, I was faced with
a conundrum that has the shape of my
father’s demon. To escape, I mounted the
back of a wind ferrying away my fears.
There’s no safety here. Every danger
that confronts me comes with a dagger.
There’s a sun scorching the leaves of
my hopes to make them wither. Don’t blame
this heart when it rejects a hope capsule.
There’s not enough water to irrigate the
florescent petals of my dreams that fight
for survival in this land. Yesterday, I broke
through the barricade of my future & lost
gusto. To bask in the present, I froze the
hands of time & demolish the road that leads
to tomorrow.
Contributor’s Bio
Okoronkwo Chisom is a first-class graduate of English Language and Literature. She is the International Advisor–Nigeria, of the African Writers Summit–Afwrites. She is the winner of the Shuzia “journey of the soul” poetry competition 2023 and a joint winner of the Sound of Unity spoken word poetry competition 2023. She has been shortlisted in the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize 2022, African Feminist Writing contest 2022, YouthHubAfrica FGM contest, September Edition, 2022, BKPW and Splendours of Dawn Poetry Contest. Her works have been published in PoetryColumn, Blue Marble Review, Nigerian Review, Icreatives Review, Isele Magazine, World Voices Magazine, New Man Gospel Magazine, Shuzia, BPPC anthology, and elsewhere.
