“Castles Built On Sand Held This Memory” by Ekpegbue Stanley

Take me [not] back to the times 
when all that mattered was the whiff of warm air
through my lungs
how my lips wore a smile
like the blooming of a daffodil.

Days when my tender foot built a foundation on the ground
and on it, heap of soft sands took shape
forming an oval dome.

Sun rays on broken glass. Interior luminescence.
Foot pulled out. Structure stands alone;
independent dream. Unchained reverie.
Bits of memories shoved in this shelter.

The sky bleeds its sadness on the earth   
my little house, soaked in this ululation:
drowned hopes and floating dreams. Inundation. 
[Fading…] Faded ambition.

The wind whispers a whole new kind of acclamation
the gentle breeze: a patient vociferation. 
the bliss of childhood!
arms widespread, welcoming tomorrow.

Night creeps in like a ghost,
mother tells a story to fill the heart and stomach;
[ man shall not live by bread alone…]
the moon outside, bears witness to this nutrition-
it lactates on our dark faces.

the night swallows us all.
 The dark sky. The lonely stars. The poor child shivers on the cold floor.

Ekpegbue Stanley is a Nigerian  creative writer and poet. He is an undergraduate at the University of Technology, Owerri. He enjoys reading books by African authors. When he’s not thinking about writing he spends his days tweeting and inspiring his 200 followers to read more poetry.  You can find him with the handle @itz_leystan.