The young bard - I

The boulevard of all mortals herein, these prancing soles kissed; clad in agility

for a score, quadruple times perhaps -

Our wishes wrestle with que sera, sera

My cranium enshrouds a debate, of the anvil and hammer- ad infinitum, a dance of life’s intricacies. Grotesque its entrails, pretty, its robe. The mind wanders nevertheless in feline prances. Muffle those myopic lids for this distant tour…

A decade,

The breath is a decaying cotyledon, wrestling mother earth’s rind. Chimney puffing curiosity and vigour. Paradise is hell to these souls

A score,

Exuberance escapes active pores, sexual tension to tame like ibexes on heat. Juxtapositions of varying degrees prostrate for discernment. Unchained a little. Sneak peek at freedom, slavery to religious, ethnic, tribal and societal dictates - initiation

Two scores and five,

A dire desire, flaming up a charted path to turn the hands of time, maybe. Lores descend like concentrates. Expectations mount the apex like snipers - of nuptial, of loin fruits, of stability. The flame transforms against the sunrise and sunset into palls of ash.

Three scores and a decade,

Regrets wrestle reality. Responsibilities had rode and worn out the rear like medieval knights, yoked to a tryst to reputation unending. The epilogue draws nigh from the horizon. The curtain could be drawn …

Four scores and ten,

Biceps enfeebled, freedom is slavery, the reaper - an aide, set to take a swipe following fate’s flimsy fantasy. Life, like Trey songz replay becomes a montâge; oil on canvas…

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Iwuagwu Ikechukwu is an African poet, essayist, screenwriter, budding dramatist and graduate of English and Literary studies. His poems won the Poetry Nook weekly contest and got an honourable mention respectively, published in the fifth paperback edition of the Poetry Nook anthology, available on amazon. His short story “Five Shades of Victory” was awarded an honourable mention in the IHRAF Creators of Justice award in New York - 2020 edition, His works have been published in The Shallow Tales Review, Black Boy Review, Talk Afro Magazine & Ka’edi Africa (Nigeria), Jalada Anthology: Nostalgia issue (Kenya), Afro Sci-Fi Series, About Place Journal, Flora Fiction, Fumble Magazine, Good Cop/Bad Cop: An Anthology from flower song Press (USA), Dissonance Magazine (UK) and Orange Blush Zine (Malaysia). A foodie and lover of the Igbo culture, amongst his hobbies are researching, writing, studying, reading of African literature as well as engaging in creative and thought provoking arguments.