POEMS BY
NATTIE O’SHEGGZY
PEDIGREE
Mother dips me in water for the second time.
Ana m alọta n’ụlọ. Ana m alọ ịnara aha m n’eziokwu.
My teeth bob up like a hunger-scenting fish.
Onyx skin on my nape has not learned ripening
Or the weight of the name I am called:
Camwood hauled to the creeks.
For the third time, I tumble into the ocean,
Fish filtering the sepia mud in rain.
Mmiri m mụtara, mmiri ka m ga-alaghachi n’aka ya
The green plankton feels tangled in my throat,
Among the reefs and the rock-teeth scraping skin
At my navel, a running creek to my ancestors’ amnion.
On the riverbank the dibia divines my journeys
Between the seashells and the rock that cuts me
From the Earth’s uterus. It’s the fourth day and night.
Abụ m nwa osimiri, ọbara ya na-asọba n’ime anyị niile
Blood continues to flow like Ọyị
The rivered blood runs like Ọyị.
GATHERING SILENCE
The news bursts at midbelly.
Ants scurry past.
With spindle antennas,
their sensilla bristle, lengthwise,
like the drunkards
drowning
in the scum barrel.
The story will roar at dawn,
gazelle wolves upon the lion,
its steel teeth sup the headlines.
A stone trolls through the mountains.
Silence echoes,
over fields and faces
PROGRESS IS A SEMINAL SHADE
Between colours and lackluster
Laughter held in place with animated glue
Between dim and funny things
My daughter’s sculpted paper butterfly
A suspended helicopter without helium
Billows in her fast blooming sky.
She grins and grinds away in innocent happiness
Like a fatal bee swimming in the comb
While the day ochred on to night
I laugh away at the promise with awe
Of the chandelier at the roots of reflections
I listen to what I see in the big, bright light
Behind the giggles and the piggy tails
Little engineering giant
Winging through the firmament
Wait for when your shadow grows taller
With all the knuckles on the door
Wherefrom the nuts wriggle loose.
Nattie O'Sheggzy is a poet who, often accompanied by his loyal dog, Exhale, finds inspiration in the complexities of simple things. He is the author of two poetry collections: Random Imaginations and Sounds of the Wooden Gong. Nattie's work has been featured in various literary publications, including Literary Yard, Sandy River Review, Everscribe, Ultramarine Review, Heroin Love Song, Agape Review, SweetSmell Journal, Smoky Quartz, Feed The Holy, and LiteZine. He is currently working on publishing his third poetry collection.