Chidozie Okonkwo

elegy for water

                 i

nile. amazon. 
niger. mother idemmili
-wet presences of the universe.

nurture of all creation.
life to all forms given,
in a flowing significance.

shades of becoming 
-assuming the contained,
formless.

                   ii

every shore is a boat of prayers:
a sojourner’s asking feet,
supplications of the prodigal,
and a fisherman’s poetry;
coursing silvered sheets of the loch,
for the bounties of wider waters.

pores are the portals for her dedication,
on all bodies she’s never scared to touch.
sweat from sport of youth and pride,
garlands of perspiration at labor,
or the blue exchange when we mourn;
grief for fortitude on cheeks.

on everything; immaculate or dirt ridden,
a liquid bravery dares through,
gently unfazed,
pristine—
in a maternal ritual,
to moisten burgeonings unseen.

                        iii

vast royalties of the salty deep,
without which, whatever is, would not be.

purifier—
of bodies. and spirits. and all the earth.

                       iv 

watersheds and potions—
dream fortune of the parched.

prosper me in your divinity.
and my logo to your widest ends sail.

Chidozie Okonkwo is a creative writer, performance poet and businessman. His works have made both international and local appearances in literary journals, magazines, anthologies, newspapers and blogs. He has previously been published on Brittle Paper, The Whiskey Blot Journal, Ariel Chart International Literary Journal, Academy of the Heart and Mind, The Lowdown Station, Eduquest, Akụkọ, Trinitas Newspaper, Judelucan Magazine and elsewhere. He was educated at University of Nigeria Nsukka, where he studied English and Literary Studies. You can reach him on Instagram @pengod1 his Twitter account @pengodforever or his personal mailbox: messagepengod@gmail.com On December 2022, Chidozie Okonkwo was longlisted for the Frontier Poetry International Nature and Place prize. He was also nominated for the Judelucan Magazine Writer of the Year award.