ode to stubbornness

By Joshua Effiong

while the night was still young,
i called the stars to bear witness

to the distillation of my desires.
& the wind to wash away the debris

that remained. i’ve become too old for
the body i possess. even my mind

aches at the rhythm with which
my thoughts & dreams engage in

a wild romance. i keep second-
guessing my abilities—jumping from

a balcony to become a hummingbird;
burying myself alive to become a lonely

daffodil; carving a river out of my
wrist. in the morning, i’d attempt

plucking the sun from the sky to
swallow again. i’d call the one my heart

yearns for & simper at the sound
of her voice. don’t we all make ourselves

believe that we can forget? that we can
still be whole after this continuous distortion?

yet we chose to stay. we become air,
become fire. become water.

we, too stubborn to die.

BIO:
Joshua Effiong is writer and artist from the Örö people of Nigeria studying Science Laboratory Technology at University of Calabar. His works has appeared/forthcoming in Shallow Tales Review, Rough Cut Press, Madrigal Press, Titled House, Augment Review, Selcouth Station Press, Rising Phoenix Review, Acropolis Journal, etc. Author of a poetry chapbook Autopsy of Things Left Unnamed. Find him on Instagram @josh.effiong and Twitter @JoshEffiong.