I Am Telling You This
We all eat lies when our hearts are hungry.
Polluted by beauty
In the end,
we’ll all become stories,
–Margaret Atwood
I am telling you this because it is my calling
to sea the beauty in the crashing wave
and share it with you
these tiny silver fish dancing in the light
that shimmering celestial road to the dying sun
can you see why I stand on the shore puzzling
trying to spy the twin stars gaseous necklace
in this vast black sky by the ocean
I am telling you this because
I rarely see the sea
living as I do in a city of lights
craving as I do the smell of the salt
the sight of some creature leaping
or snaking through that water
the warming hum of the waves
I am telling you this because
I miss your raucous laughter
in the place where you will no longer be
no matter how many times I visit
the flower beds sit untended
someone has cut down all the trees
I am telling you this because
I do not know the answer or the question
just working on the pieces of my life
none of it fits you see
go back to the water but don’t wade
why try to reach the horizon
Funny
Funny
how these bright birds
flock to me
all flavors of the rainbow
flit in and out
of my orbit
resting here awhile
attracted no doubt
by a certain glitter
a certain vibration
a certain frequency
that resonates
I do not know what broadband
I am transmitting
but I know
who shows up
Funny
Burnt Flowers
I am in the midst of
murky waters in the sky
Tornadoes circling towers
the possibilities of burnt flowers
Would that I could swish Rumi’s skirts
be carried in a bath
to another place in time
What forces about nature
Who can call me to venture out
of my old self into the new
Sirens calling
I am here
It’s like a lizard discarding its skin
You don’t get to keep the best parts
All or nothing shedding
This white butterfly
ain’t no chrysalis homie
You might pass me in the street
‘cept that you heard my long ass vowels
Rollin rollin rollin rollin
Tennessee whiskey smooth
The drunk is a metaphor for my life
I don’t know you like you know me
Otherwise you wouldn’t stunt me with
in the head with that phrase and keep on movin’
Like nothing ever happened
I’m not one for the high seas
except for Madame Kathleen Ferriers.
Seas blowing southerly, southerly, southerly
Bonnie breezes bringing my true love to me
Sekou said we dreamed you Black
but did you dream me a mermaid
with red hair and a fishtail?
How is it possible to die for dancing?
My heart dies from this sorrow.
Mary Oliver said something like, “the I in these poems is you.” My own idea in these poems is that I am bringing you the possibility of seeing through my eyes. These three poems are about the eye.
Monique Ngozi Nri is a writer of Nigerian and Barbadian descent who was born in Coventry, England, lived in Nigeria until she was nine, and has visited Barbados many times from a very young age. She has lived in New York for the last thirty years. Her writing explores her nomadic life, the impact of the Biafran War on her being, and notions of displacement, home, and freedom. She is married to Ahmed Abdullah, trumpeter and leader of the band Diaspora with whom she sings the music of Sun Ra and the Diaspora and reads her poetry and the work of many who have gone before me. Her performances are recorded on the CDs: “Traveling the Spaceways,” Ahmed Abdullah’s “Diaspora” and “Diaspora Meets Afro Horn.” She has spent many years being involved in community development, activism, and public administration. As a partner in Melchizedek Music Productions, Monique continue to work to bring the music of the spirit back into the community of Brooklyn. She recently completed her MFA in Creative Writing and teaches English Composition and Research. Monique served as co-editor of the nonfiction section of the Brooklyn Review from 2020-2023. Her work has won the 2021 Himan Brown Award in Creative Writing. Monique’s poetry has been published in And Then, The Brooklyn Review, Works and Days Vol.1, and Moonstone’s Haiku Anthology. Her writing on the arts has appeared in BlackArts in London, Artrage, and The New York City Jazz Record. Monique is a founding member of The Black Lives Matter Poetry Alliance (BLMPA). For more information, see MoniqueNgoziNri.com.
The Marbled Sigh 