ASSUMPTA OZUA
1 – Secrets
Plot an ambiguous path
on the map that is my life
and take a leisurely walk with me
into the uncertainty of forever.
As I scatter my problems at your feet
like dissident rose petals,
be not afraid,
but collect them one by one.
Be not predictable
in the vein of Pandora’s box,
and let lose all that I hold dear.
Instead be like Fort Knox,
keeping my sins, sadness
and sentiments safe.
Stuff each ear with porous sponge
so that you might absorb
my numerous tales of woe
as I pour out my soul.
Make your truth spitting lips
impervious to idle gossip.
Be who I think you to be,
and promise to keep
all of my secrets for me.
2 – Slipstream
Her smile rose
and lips curled
into crescent shaped
joy.
No bittersweet pain
could rival the
laughter line trenches
washing away past
sorrow.
She would always
rejoice in the
cyclone of
life.
Us
60 years from now when the
slightly scuffed suitcase you will call
skin houses more than big bones
and blood ties you cannot unknot,
kaleidoscopic heritage you cannot forget
but memories, dreams and wishes too,
the quiet shuffle of your body will
still bring music to my ears as
we cut shapes in the space where
our babies cut shapes and grew.
Our children will be beautiful.
They will epitomise their names,
carry hope in their palms, love
will know them intimately.
Garri granules of light will be
the trail our son leaves behind when
he flashes his explosive smile.
Like her mother, our daughter
will be a quiet storm, salt water and
life source searching for her lighthouse home.
In years to come, you will tell
me stories that no longer belong to us,
of fear that did not belong to us,
sing songs that never belonged to us,
our struggle does not belong to us.
Only our faith, unsinkable ship afloat
in a sea of fables and failure
belongs to us.
And I, cyclonic force stilled by your love,
will forever belong to you.
Assumpta Ozua resides and works in London. After writing her first poem at age seven, she uses poetry as a means of expressing her innermost thoughts and feelings. Her work mostly centers on love, loss and otherness. Her debut collection of poems was published in 2013, entitled To You For You With You. She reads poems and performs spoken word in and around London.
