EMPTY DREAMS
ALM No.86, February 2026
POETRY
EMPTY DREAMS
She sat at the window side
And peered through the panes
Waiting for the blue skies
Before writing her poems.
A sparkling star
Filled with words.
But a trudging sloth.
Howling wind whispered.
Days have passed.
Green plants have grown
And decayed.
But still no ink on patches.
Now, she is frail.
Her eyes deep in their sockets
Her strands of hair, grey.
But on the fifteenth day
Of August 1998.
While crossing a zebra lane
A lout in a steel engine
Knocked her down.
She sprawled on the asphalt.
Dirt on her naked feet.
Covered in a mess of glasses.
Her eyes wide, staring upwards.
And a bead of sweat
Sent shivers across her spine.
A metallic smell of blood
Congeal with dirt soaked
Her crimson dress.
Grey skies.
Cyclones.
Chirping of crickets.
And blank sheets.
THE TROUBLES
1972.
London Derry.
Bloody Sunday.
Placards and banners.
Against the four lions.
British.
That sowed rotten potatoes
On Irish soil.
On an Olive tree.
The Lapwing calls
Irish nationalist.
And broke frosty silence.
A louring sky.
Shrugging off chains
Of internment without trial.
But the monster at hand
Cared less.
Sowed seeds of discord
Between blood brothers.
Catholic Ireland
And Protestant brothers.
With a side of the latter.
But in a twinkle,
The Big Brother fired shots
After shots.
Crimson liquid on the streets
Rubble homes and pubs
Turned to dust
As falcon combed the ruffled hair
Of her dead chick.
With a gritted beak.
Eden of vultures and owls.
Cutting pieces of meat.
Tear from grey skies.
Of groans and scars.
THE WOMAN DIED
She drank a cup of hemlock
On the sixteenth day of August
1992.
And her body ooze.
Strewn with flies and worms.
No one knew about her death.
Except her shadow.
She lied without a smile.
A pale face.
Filled with sinews.
Alive, she built a fence between
Herself and the world.
No loved ones.
No pet at hand.
But when a raven flapped in
It saw a note of loneliness.
An empty dark room.
And solemn shrills.
The author, Joseph Marcel, Ikhenoba is a Biochemist by profession and a passionate writer. He has published several poems, articles and stories which have been published in Amazon, Poetry South, Active Muse, Short story.net, Poem Hunters, Core Humanity Commons, Academia.edu, Writers Space Africa, Goodreads, Afri-Library and Kinsman Quarterly. Semi-finalist for Black Diaspora Award, shortlisted for Natives Award, and longlisted for Iridescence and Dr. Paul Kalanithi writing awards in 2024. He likes sports, writing and scientific researches.
