Before the cloud eclipsed the moon on the eve of December, we have been groping in the ocean of darkness. Here, everything breaks into threnodies. Before the stars split into oblivion, we walk through labyrinth of little streets in Judea. For we have learned that the flesh is a tabernacle drenched in shells of loneliness transforming cistern into Marah. My brother dipped myrrh into the shallow side of his pocket, frankincense stuffed into my wineskin, & my father wrapped gold on his rawboned: an oblation for broken elegy. On the cloud some men flooded with the color of snow beat drums, blast with trumpets in a town of happiness. A rainbow painted the threshold of the inn—this is how we find the footprint of the gateway. The truth is our cracked bodies have shape-shifted. The petal of gods blooms in the child. Christ enters inside our bodies, he scoops the lake from our bowels & burns the threads of sin entrapping us. Here, we evoke the metaphor of light, sprinkling fire from our tongues in glossolalia.
Ferdinand, Emmanuel Somtochukwu is a young Nigerian poet and essayist. He has written a number of poems that have brought him to literary scenes and contests such as the Elysian African Poetry Contest which he came out as the fourth runner-up. He is a scholar of language who has a keen interest in arts, humanities, and literature and also a journalist for Lasu Conscience, a media outlet in Lagos State University (LASU). His poem and articles appear in Wingless Dreamer, Eboquills Magazine, and The Nigerian Voice. He is currently studying English Language at Lagos State University.
