THE LAMP FLICKERS by Uzomah Ugwu
Hook is proud to feature two poems by Uzomah Ugwu
“ The Lamp Flickers”
The lamp buried in the corner
Flickering at the same time of his heartache
It was hard to cut off
It was him or shared the likes of him
Moods rolling back and forth
So wide it wrecked the whole room
Consumed inside he kept going off
At the same time
He was the tide he didn’t go with them
His feet pounded the floor
He went places in his mind while
His body stayed but not grounded
Belief systems question the
Soul and the heart tested
About their intentions
Left like the lamp
Thinking it will be alright
As he flickered each time, he heard her speak
——
“Cries of Battle”
Untidy footprints left behind
Walked off the edge
About to pretend it does not hurt or
that there are no foes waiting in a row
he built a stage where his melodies could
look on in different ways than where life had taken him
around in brilliant circles pitched perfectly fit harmonies
no one else understood but his audience which heard his guilty plea
to be free and not this isolated and blocked from the outside
back in layers of vain
surrounded by those who never knew his name
and whose beings got slayed in the war
his holiness was woke by ghosts
he wore his throat like a host to their stories
where lyric for lyric the blood gushed out
the wounds never left his microphone
he echoed the tales of those that never made their way back
and never let them hear silence for this was their battle cry
and the end of his glory
Uzomah Ugwu is a poet/writer, curator, and multi-disciplined artist. Her poetry, writing, and art have been featured internationally in various publications, galleries, and art spaces. She is a political, social, and cultural activist. Her core focus is on human rights, mental health, animal rights, and the rights of LGBTQIA persons. She is also the managing editor and founder of Arte Realizzata.