Synkroniciti is honored to welcome poet Jonathan Chibuike Ukah, who resides in the UK, with two powerful poems about war and displacement. “Still, We Dream” describes a war-torn apocalyptic scene full of fire and smoke, where “The sound of silence is a bomb,/ not the footsteps of our parents,/ nor love arriving to our rescue.// Even when darkness is light,/ and bullets litter our rooms,/ yes, still we dream…” When the soundtrack of the community is silenced it is vital for survival to hold on to the dream of a better life. The second poem, “God’s Bits of Wood,” speaks of the mental unrest that comes from displacement, from the loss of home: “how we chuckle at our mistakes,/ groan, moan, frown and scorn,/ and get tired and start moving on/ to another lawn, another field,/ another oasis of displeasure.” The title pays homage to Ousmane Sembène’s novel God’s Bits of Wood which came out in 1960, the year Senegal became independent. The expression “God’s bits of wood” is traditionally used to describe people and designed to turn away bad luck or evil attention that might result from using their names. This fear of attention makes it difficult to belong, to feel safe enough to put down roots or exhibit identity.
Jonathan’s poetic voice is rich, ranging from expansive to delicately nuanced intonation. Repetition, alliteration and assonance create rolling rhythms that capture and captivate our attention and beg to be read aloud. His is an orator’s voice.
Read Jonathan’s poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Belonging” issue, available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Jonathan Chibuike Ukah is a Pushcart-nominated poet living in the United Kingdom. His poems have been featured in Unleash Lit, The Pierian, Propel Magazine, Atticus Review, The Journal of Undiscovered Poets and elsewhere. He won the Alexander Pope Poetry Award in 2023 and was the Editor’s Choice Prize Winner of Unleash Lit in 2024. He was shortlisted for the Minds Shine Bright Poetry Prize 2024 and the Second Poetry Prize Winner of The Streetlights Poetry Prize in 2024.