Tonight the moon is a skyscraper.
A million tiny islands sewn into the sky’s
skin twinkle above the heads of mortals
& spikelets of grass. My brother with
me flow along the road for a stroll till
we approach a mango tree to recline on
& roll a blunt. The glow cleaves through
the night’s flesh. I stretch a hand upwards
to the outline of a star & claim
one radiant child of the universe.
My brother unplugs his blunt from the hold
of lips to affirm that stars
are God’s gifts in countless amounts.
He drones on, attention leaps from one star
to another, each one an arc of wonder. We cup
the night sky with our palms, witness moonlight
stream through the cracks. Light inhabits us.
Michael Akuchie is an Igbo-Esan poet and author. Michael has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net Anthology, and Orison Anthology respectively. Winner of the 2020 Roadrunner Poetry Prize, he tweets @Michael_Akuchie, serves as Peer Reviewer for Poetry at Whale Road Review and reads submissions for Frontier Poetry. He has poems forthcoming with Poet Lore, The Rumpus, The Black Fork Review, Cosmonauts Avenue, Ecotheo Review, The Malahat Review, Whale Road Review, Gordon Square Review, and Moonchild Magazine.
Michael Akuchie is the 2019-2020 Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Honoree. His chapbook, Wreck is available on The Hellebore Shop. To purchase a copy of the award winning book, click here.
