I meditate

by Flourish Joshua

Nigeria

by the

Mediterranean sea:

I hear pigeons

coo in their coop,

a gaggle of geese

honk in unison, &

a flamboyance of

flamingoes grunt around.

I see the arms of the tides

dance like the fingers

of a pianist—

the buck eyes the doe

with a deep, alluring

passion, & for my grief's sake,

the wind thrashes

around with a salve

on its neck:

I've come to merchandise

my sorrows for the healing

in the breast of the billows.

I meditate

by the

Mediterranean sea.

 
 

Flourish Joshua

Flourish Joshua is a poet from Nigeria, a NaiWA poetry scholar and second runner-up of the 7th Ngozi Agbo Prize for Essay. He has been published/forthcoming on London Grip Poetry, Eremite Poetry, Ghost City Review, Brittle Paper, Sledgehammer Lit, Indianapolis Review, East French Press, Rigorous, Olongo, and elsewhere. He is the Managing Editor at Naija Readers' Buffet, Interviews Editor at Eremite Poetry and Poetry Reader at Bluebird Review. He is on Instagram and Twitter: @fjspeaks.