Isimmiri

By Offor Emmanuel

The silvery flow
From atop the rocky sands
Streaming, shining, like mermaid’s strands

Isimmiri – harbinger of life
Dwelling place for shrimps, crabs, toads, turtles, fishes
Feeding the thirsty ferns and mosses
The dark green trees and shrubs, waving in admiration

The passageway to Isimmiri – like the mouth of the cave of the gods
The jagged mountains, crawling to its mercy
Raised on all sides, soldiers of this stratum

The chorus of the birds adorning the thick-leafed trees
Nwanza, Okpalakwukwu, Ugolomma, all piercing the still skies with their shrill
With touches of red, black and yellow in the spaces of green leaves – what beauty!

In the inner forests playing hide and seek, just beside the Isimmiri river
Osa, Elulu, Uze, Ngwele Alili with their botched eyes and fiery feet
Alligator and the forest lizards, with their squeaks and squeals
Running atop the Mmimi tree, on the branches of the Ogirisi
Giving the Enwe Mgbo – the scary monkeys – a run for their bananas

Little wonder the sister rivers – Nwodika, Nkwukwu Ula, Mmiri Eze –
Always clap their tides in jealousy
Of the serene, adored and adorned Isimmiri

Isimmiri – stream of my village, Irefi Obodo-Dike
Succour to beings of the land, the waters and the spirits
Flowing still and steady, so long as no one nears on an Eke market day!

BIO:
Offor Emmanuel is a biochemistry graduate of Unizik, Awka. An excellent photographer with passion for poetry and knack for creative writing. Having over a hundred poems to his name, he has been published in magazines like Fecundus magazine, Miray books, amongst others.
IG: Manuelwrites