Looking out the Window - Poems by Chika Unigwe
- By Chika Unigwe
- Published May 5, 2007
- Poems
-
Rating:
Chika Unigwe
"I ran for city council elections in Belgium in Oct. 2000. I was the only African to run in my city. I did not get a chair but I got more votes than our family doctor!" Chika 'Nina' Unigwe was a high school student when her poem was selected for publication in the epochal Voices From The Fringe edited by Dr. Harry Garuba. The author of Teardrops, a collection of poems, Chika who holds a BA from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, had her Post Grad. studies at KU Leuven and UC Louvain in Belgium. She is currently working on her PhD program and has had articles and poems published in newspapers and journals. Her short story, Touched by an Angel, was broadcast on the BBC World Service. Chika lives in Spokane, Washington.
View all Entries by Chika Unigwe
Looking out the Window
It’s a plain enough window
Nothing fancy
No trimmings to it at all
An old common window
Just like an old common woman
I am often told
But my mother is not common
Nor was her mother before her
Or the mother before that mother
Strong women all
Who raised children
Like they knitted booties
Tight and well
Nothing common at all in that!
A Plea
Will you let me whisper
In your ears
The secret of a thousand years
Which now come bobbing up
To my chest
Pleading with an earnestness
To be released
Gurgled out a throat
Dry
Cackling like a bush fire left untamed
Spreading its wildness beyond any borders known to man
Will you let me hold
Your hands
As we walk through this maze
So puzzling I am yet to make head
Or tail of it
Will you let me love
You like
Only I know how to
A battle
Mutiny
Every night at bedtime
You fight me with the strength of a small army
Resisting my commands
Thwarting my order
Taunting me
Daring me to do my worst
Lock you in
Shield the moon from sneaking in
Take away your little friends, comfort in the dark
Until slowly your eyes shut
And you become transformed again
Into my little angels
It’s a plain enough window
Nothing fancy
No trimmings to it at all
An old common window
Just like an old common woman
I am often told
But my mother is not common
Nor was her mother before her
Or the mother before that mother
Strong women all
Who raised children
Like they knitted booties
Tight and well
Nothing common at all in that!
A Plea
Will you let me whisper
In your ears
The secret of a thousand years
Which now come bobbing up
To my chest
Pleading with an earnestness
To be released
Gurgled out a throat
Dry
Cackling like a bush fire left untamed
Spreading its wildness beyond any borders known to man
Will you let me hold
Your hands
As we walk through this maze
So puzzling I am yet to make head
Or tail of it
Will you let me love
You like
Only I know how to
A battle
Mutiny
Every night at bedtime
You fight me with the strength of a small army
Resisting my commands
Thwarting my order
Taunting me
Daring me to do my worst
Lock you in
Shield the moon from sneaking in
Take away your little friends, comfort in the dark
Until slowly your eyes shut
And you become transformed again
Into my little angels
Spread The Word
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1 Response to "Looking out the Window - Poems by Chika Unigwe" 
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said this on 04 Aug 2005 3:01:11 PM UTC
she's just okay
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