My Father and Eternity​

1st Place in the Poetry Writing Contest

Issue 17

My father said that he would never die.
I interpreted it that he would live forever;
like God, he would be omnipresent,
omniscient and omnipotent.
I raised my eyebrows at my father’s power,
spreading everywhere like Coronavirus, 
I thought that his God agreed with him;
He had always told me,
that if I decided to do anything,
my God would also agree with me,
If I didn't plan to become a cannibal
or a blood-sucking killer mosquito.
I decided to crash my uncle's calabash,
my God dropped stones on my palms;
my God gave my father money
and he bought me a catapult;
I decided to pepper my sister's eyes
to prevent her from eating faster than I.
So, when my father said he would not die,
I knew he must have discussed it with his God,
who bought fertilizer and hoes for my mother,
tulips, roses, daisies and chrysanthemums,
which she planted on my father’s grave.
Every day, she watered it with her tears
and spread her cloth over it in the Harmattan.
Sometimes, she would stand over it
and drive away the blue and blackbirds;
she covered its breadth with her breasts
after planting the hibiscus and lily.
They grew into luxurious and tender flowers,
bearing my father’s spirit to Heaven
and accelerated his brand of eternity.

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Jonathan Chibuike Ukah’s debut Chapbook, A is for Anfang, was published by The Island of Wak-Wak (December 2025). His awards include Poem of the Month at The Literary Shark Poetry Contest 2025, Winner of The Atlantis Poetry Award 2026, Alexander Pope Poetry Award at The Pierian, 2025, Vivian Shipley Poetry Award, at the Connecticut Poetry Contest 2025, Third Place Winner at the Hemlock Journal Poetry Contest 2025. His poems have appeared in Atticus Review, The Pierian, Propel Magazine, Journal of Undiscovered Poets, TAB; The Journal of Poetry and Poetics.

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