TO A NEWEST SONG

1/11/2022

By Njikonye Charles

God, I see
what you do for other angels—
once [not too long ago]….
— Flourish Joshua

my eyes— nuzzle around a tree to bend into
its fine leaves. the longing presses/ my cheeks wet.

i triangle my hands to pray;
sanctify me/ holy oil onto vituperate metal. here's limbs--

spear them into fertile soil. i sprout, fig— o divine fig
tree— sheen bound by heavenly buss. i swear—

i yearn to outlive the destiny mama's impaired hands crafted me.
shoot my voice into the air & a bridge to my newer fate,

it gathers back. God, i dreamt you boxing boons to miracle the longing.
i pray mine arrives in an alleyway to heaven. i'll ride stars to

the heavens— pour my wounds at the feet of the throne.
Lord, take my bruises & make a phantom of it//

& earth, please act accordingly.

Writer's Biography

Njikonye Charles Nnamdi (he/him) writes stories, poems, and blog posts. He enjoys watching films, reading, and doing internet research. His works have appeared in Eremite Poetry, NantyGreens, Last Girls Club Magazine, and others.

He aspires to be a medical doctor. He has interests in climate change, entrepreneurship, and technology.

9 Comments

Njikonye Charles Nnamdi

14/11/2022 02:01:00 am

This poem is a prayer, expressing a deep feeling of sadness, & hopefulness for better days. The poem begins with the poet admitting his torture, & how much agony it has brought him.

Smitten by this ache, the poet pours his heart out to God, unearthing his feelings.

The poet begs God for blessings & pleads to God to erase his pains. He also wishes peace from man in the last line of the poem where he says: & "earth, please act accordingly."

There are times in life when we experience anguish & feel really helpless. We should turn to God & ask for His guidance & healing. Take it to God in prayer.

Nice piece. Thank you, SprinNG.

Nentapmun

19/11/2022 08:09:28 am

My goodness! What a riveting prayer! The last few lines reminded me of a song I wrote a few years ago and the lyricism of your tone is familiar, yet unique. Thank you for this 💚

Abubakar Esther

19/11/2022 08:46:34 am

I'll say by saying; Amen!
Who doesn't yearn for more or ask for to see if the lines on his/her palms is inked for success?
I've read works of Flourish Jousha and I must say this piece certainly gives me an exhilarating stance of I can do it!
Well done Nnamdi!
May the earth act accordingly. Amen

Adaora Chinedu

19/11/2022 10:36:44 am

What prayer, what song!
I hope you find your amens between
commas and fullstops
I hope you reach for your hallelujahs.
& I hope that with each breath you take
your victory resounds.

What prayer. What song. Amen.
Thank you for birthing this forth, Nnamdi.💜

Michelle Emmanuel

19/11/2022 10:55:17 am

This is a prayer, a prayer that asks for God's intervention, for God to take over. The poet understands that he can't do anything without God's intervention. Due to his hardship and troubles, the poet has come to realize that only God can give him peace of mind. He asks to find peace in heaven and also in earth

Debbie link

19/11/2022 01:17:02 pm

Okay. The last line seems to me like a solemn command. Like something you'd grit your teeth while pleading, & it comes out almost like a whisper. And the pause before it is almost saying, "I know the earth's a hindrance but lest I forget, still act accordingly" while in a solemn mood.

It's beautiful ❤️.

Solomon Hamza link

20/11/2022 07:44:27 pm

This poem is a hymn like poem and save for the line breaks introduced by the poet, I would have suggested a slow, melodious beats to go with it.
Aside from that, the poem is like a prayer. If I were to renamed it, I would suggest," self portrait of a praying boy" as the title. Lol
The poem begins with the writer expressing his agony and distress. We can see that in line 2, " my cheeks wet" which shows the poet must have been crying.
I enjoyed tremendously the writer's use of poignant words to create befitting imageries in the minds of readers as expressed in stanza 2," I triangle my hands to pray" I literally muttered a low 'damn' after reading that line.
The last line of the 4th stanza is where the prayers comes in," shoot my voice into the air & a bridge to my newer fate" the writer here is seeking for God's guidance in creating his own legacies.
In stanza 4 where he states," I yearn to outlive the destiny Mama's impaired hands crafted" talks about his desires to live up to his own expectations and achieve his own dreams rather than that his parents would have loved for him to do. This is obviously a prayer line on the lips of most teenagers in Nigeria.
In all, he prays his prayers reaches the throne of God where he states,"I pray mine arrives in the alleyway of Heaven," which is like an acceptance to the request he's asking of God.
The writer also hopes he meets good people on his way to greatness who would assist him in the line," & Earth act accordingly."
I read somewhere that a poem is like a door into the mind of the writer. How true that statement was. The writer has created a path for us to walk into his world and share his fears and wishes. I have the writer and SprinNG to thank for giving me the chance to walk this path with the writer.

Adesiyan Oluwapelumi

26/11/2022 05:06:06 pm

God,this is beautiful!!

What a profound poem of yearning and supplication.

The title ushers us into the transformation that is about to happen,yes, we are moving from mourning dirges to choral-ing songs of hope.

The poet heralds his requests with a reflection of the grave melancholy that causes his cheeks to become wet.

The use of the word ' triangle' to represent the hands sprawled like hips in prayer is quite ingenious and creative, and perfectly fit the image created.

In the first line of the fourth stanza, the writer speaks of a life that outlives the life his mother's impaired hands has given him. He is speaking of finding riches inside poverty,of finding hope out of hopelessness.
The lines ' Lord take my bruises and make a phantom of it ' struck me the hardest for here I could literally hear the dirge fade into nothingness and a whisper following in the aftermath. The voice acknowledged the effervescence of these bruises and asked the earth to act accordingly.
Conclusively, the writer is a synedoche for every human being burdened by their troubles and ambitions yet willing to carry one last burden: the burden of hope.

The writer is agnostic if his prayers would be answered or not but he refuses to succumb to the caprices of his memory. He is finding light in a tunnel where darkness rooms. He believes in heaven and is praying his requests arrive in alleyway to the spiritual realm of answers. He is supplicating for an holy oil to sanctify the rust of his vituperate metal. He is poignant with his prayers but also acknowledges the pain brewed in his heart by this he calls himself, a divine fig tree. He is telling himself that after this night of despair, morning will be a lump of hope pregnant with miracles. He is telling us that after this night of despair, hope will find us and its silver lining will melt into a brand new day of possible impossiblities.

He is telling us to shoot our voice into the air and find the bridge for a newer fate. He is telling us to hope! Hope !! Hope !!!

Thank you Spring for publishing this piece of enormous impact and message. Thank you Njikonye, you have really blessed every reader with this gift of poetic language.

Nyeri

1/12/2022 12:56:24 am

I'm wowed
Keep the great work sir
Poetry started from religion and you proved it

TO A NEWEST SONG

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Copyright @SprinNG

TO A NEWEST SONG

Leave a Reply.

Copyright @SprinNG​

Copyright @SprinNG