No Umbrella
I have made an appointment with my destiny
never to go out with an umbrella,
never to cover my head and face
with a nylon shirt to soak up the wetness
dripping down my body when it rains;
I have decided to dip my body
where the water is deep and thick
that I might be as damp as dews
licking up the dryness of the grass.
I know you will think I am crazy
when the rain makes me cold or freezing,
and my hands are limp, my feet trembling,
when, like the duck, I cannot fly away
from the pursuit of pests or forays of arrows;
when I stand on the spot of the sniper
I cannot skip away to save my skin.
But these are basic calculators of ordinary men
who take up their rescue in their slippery hands
and battle in vain against the inevitable;
I did not ask to be born or dead,
nor was my conception the fruit of my labour;
all that happened have become my miracle,
and if I am not wet, how will it go on?
Jonathan Chibuike Ukah
Jonathan Chibuike Ukah is a graduate of English and Law living in the
UK. His poems have appeared and will soon appear in the Journal of Undiscovered
Poets, Boomerlit magazine, the Sparrows Trombone, New Note Poetry, New Reader
Magazine, the Pierian, Wildfire Words, Discretionary Love magazine, the Poet
Magazine, etc. He is a winner of the Voices of Lincoln Poetry Contest
2022.