I Dance
The last time God visited me,
He gave me a set of warm-timbered clarinets,
two lips for blowing the rhythm out of them,
a pair of hands to carry the instruments,
another twin legs to dance to the rhythm.
Satan came visiting the next day,
he gave me a box of cactus seeds,
a tree to show me how they would grow,
the land where I should plant them,
and bury my harvest to his glory,
I blow my clarinet with my love lips,
near where Satan's land lies fallow;
cactus trees had sprung up overnight,
their branches and leaves smiled to the sky,
their flowers glowed in the morning sun.
On bended knees, I danced to the sky,
towards the crown of cactus trees,
whose leaves blocked the rays of the sun,
and cast a shade over the cold land,
where I must plant the cactus seeds.
When Satan came visiting again,
I was blasting my clarinet with a golden mouth,
dancing to the rhythm of Heaven’s song
near the land, he showed me to sow,
where cactus trees quivered their leaves.
Every time Satan comes to visit me,
to see if I have planted his cactus seeds
on the land where his shadow casts,
he meets me dance like a paper in the reed
and leaves fuming with the rage of a tornado.
I will explore my life deeper with a song,
for death is not a bargain for eternity;
when Satan comes to call again,
hoping to see me planting cactus seeds,
I’ll blow my horn and dance to my song.
Jonathan Chibuike Ukah’s poems have appeared in Strange Horizons, Discretionary Love, Skylight 47 Literary, New Note Poetry, Remington Review, the Last Leaves Magazine, State of Matter, the Journal of Undiscovered Poets, the Whisky Blot Literary Magazine, The Pierian, Compass Rose Literary, etc. He won the Voices of Lincoln Poetry contest in 2022, and his chapbook manuscript, “The Last Anger of Man,” was longlisted for the Kingdom in the Wild Competition 2022. His poetry collection, Blame the Gods, was a top 6 finalist of the African Diaspora Award 2023.
Pulsebeat Poetry Journal 