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Call Her Beautiful

1/3/2022

9 Comments

 
By Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi
Picture
for the long dark hair trailing down her back, housing the red sea
and mushrooms of sadness.
 
O yes, 
for the endless line of bridges forged on her skin,
scalded by the weight of holding back,
 
of becoming a gentle wave after a storm.
you don't have to look at a woman twice to 
know she's fought many wars than Alexander the Great ever did 
she's the sea that sleeps and wakes up across timelines;
​her body a collection of wounds that umblica
cord between
worlds, connecting histories born and those forgotten, buried 
under the silver tongue of the moon.
 
Once upon a time I was the wind, alone and wandering across a thousand seas,
questions pegged on my lips, searching for the meaning of a song
the body plays continuously tucked underneath sheets of silence.
 
Now See!
a woman I had met at a pub said, leaning in to touch me. 
her face was the sun in the near-darkness of the room. her long fingers were balls of cotton, warm and tender. Jass poured all around us like soft rain. like the smile of God.
 
I looked up from my glass of scotch, above the sharp redness of her lips, 
into the river in her eyes. I saw, 
beyond the smile, a tall healthy tree devoid of fruits. 
 
Perhaps, it's not time for fruiting, I thought.
But then, after a quick deep look, I saw myself
a body fragile and small
 
& deviant and trying to break free from those walls, to sprout new wings
like the rest before me.
but, unlike the ones before, to dip myself in water not grease because
I know that, someday, when this clothe finally wears out, completely lose its gloss,
I'll become fire and burn with the brightest of colours.
Writer's Biography
Picture
Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi is an Igbo writer. He writes short stories and poems. His works have been published in Afritondo, Africanwriter, bengaluru review, arts lounge magazine and elsewhere. 
9 Comments
Prisca link
1/3/2022 11:15:29 am

This is a short piece but with very deep message.

Women are amazing and powerful. The part of this piece that says "​her body a collection of wounds that umbilical cord between
worlds, connecting histories born and those forgotten, buried under the silver tongue of the moon". Was very resounding.

Such a great piece.

Reply
Nkemjika, Ifeoma Deborah
1/3/2022 11:59:10 am

This is narrative is fascinating. The imagery is vivid and laced with melodic undertones. "You don't have to look at a woman twice to know she's fought many wars..." Oh, the power of a woman, only if her eyes could tell the tales, and her arms could spring out wings so she will soar above the pangs of sociocultural pressures.

Reply
David Yunana
1/3/2022 01:28:14 pm

The poem started making sense towards the last few paragraphs and that's amazing...poets have a way of drawing you in, while concealing what you are been drawn to until you arrive. This guy did a good job.

"she's the sea that sleeps and wakes up across timelines;"... I love the way he played with words here...a little bit of consonance and almost assonance.... I honestly wish he used this skill more ( I mean the play on similar sounding words, etc)


And lastly the punctuation was a bit poor, and it made some lines and stanzas become disjointed. I assume however, that it was during the course of uploading the poem to the site, that it sort of scattered.....

Overall, it is a befitting poem, for the woman folk...

Reply
Ugochukwu Anadị
3/3/2022 05:36:07 am

I do not know if the problem of formatting (and punctuation) came from the writer or the site. Whichever one, it affected this beauty of a poem so much, making its reading a little bit tedious. On this note, I'll like to suggest to SprinNg to start asking the poets also to send an audio of them reading the poem. This is important because the poet knows what he/she wrote and how he/she wants it read, in terms of pauses I mean. That'll guide the reader a lot.

This poem is a celebration of the womanfolk. It's a celebration well done, in the sense that it makes one see the beauty inherent in women. One thing though about such celebrations, to me, is that I feel that they are highly political. If you are celebrating Black people for example, my mind will immediately run to, 'what of the white? Brown? Red?' 'Why not just celebrate the human race.' Same with when one celebrates the LGBTQ community. I always ask, 'who celebrates the cis-het folks?' Who celebrates the boy child when the other is celebrating the girl child.

I'm relearning that though. We are all humans but our experiences of what it means to be human differ and should be celebrating, for in celebrating it, others will come to realize that difference is not synonymous with abnormality. Also, I have come to realize that some people, due to the situations they were born with and into, are naturally privileged and thus, might have no use for such celebrations. So, that by celebrating womanhood, the author have neither subtracted anything from manhood nor maligned humanhood. It's something I'm still learning, to get over that my default setting.

The poem is melodious when read around (though the issue of punctuation and formating affected this a lot). I so much love what Onyebuchi did with the 'd' sound here: Once upon a time I was the wind, alone and wandering across a thousand seas. His choice of words and use of metaphor is top notch. Tell me about: she that sleeps and wakes up across timelines. Tell me about: connecting histories born and those forgotten. Tell me about: her body a collection of wounds that umblica
cord between
worlds.

This is good. With a little editing to personalize it, one can land a girlfriend with this. You doubt it? Then, you don't know what poetry can do.

Reply
Faith Aminu
5/3/2022 11:50:13 am

Poetry about women are always beautiful and thought-provoking because why not?

This poem beautifully captured a woman's nuances with melodic words however there was no consistency with the punctuations, starting a stanza with a small letter and then a capital letter and then a punctuation mark affect the beauty of the poem

Also writing in the first person when the author uses male pronouns to describe himself can count as gender appropriation

Overall the poem can be improved upon, the concept and idea is a beautiful one

Reply
Ujata Samson pau
9/3/2022 12:36:44 am

He started by describing how beautiful beautiful women are.
"looked up from my glass of scotch, above the sharp redness of her lips,
into the river in her eyes. I saw,
beyond the smile, a tall healthy tree devoid of fruits" here he described how he understands the emptiness and how unruly some women are but would not be carried away by their beauty.

Reply
Taiwo Oluwabunmi
11/3/2022 05:17:40 pm

This depicts the awareness of a woman
Many have been ridiculed, turned as a mere object
This is an eye opening for a new change.
A woman is not object to gift,
We are strong and capable.
Due to some gender compatability
Things are evolving.

Reply
chisom
14/3/2022 11:43:41 am

"I know that, someday, when this clothe finally wears out, completely lose its gloss,
I'll become fire and burn with the brightest of colours."

this was a beautiful poem. the imagery, vivid descriptions... it lures you in. at first, I was lost, then towards the end I began to understand what the writer was saying. Kudos

Reply
Crystal mbek
17/3/2022 09:44:26 pm

Firstly I really love the use of metaphors in this piece, it’s very beautiful.
And when you read closely it’s easy to understand
Cause it’s filled with simples words
Unlike the poems that carry heavy words difficult for the local to understand
Beautiful piece

Reply



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