Peace At River Banks Poem by Chima Ononogbu

Around this river banks
are pear trees tall as lively colonnades
whose green-yellow leaves spread as wide swaying umbrellas,
wherefrom quietness as sparkling peace springs
and moves, fleshed in Harmanttan's breezy air
that animates the celestial light roaming the wide sky,
whooshing across the warm landscapes in melodious waves.

Off my own bat, on uneasy days, down the river banks I amble,
where beauty like a rapid mystery lures my eyes
away from sands of pain that make them bat to a tear.
Here, my mind rejuvenates and be spry,
my hands to feathers transfigure and I fly as a bird
up and up to a transcendental nirvana, beyond riotous dimensions.

I hear no echoes of the world underneath my thoughts;
rather feel the pulse of butterflies that slip under my veins
and shatter my blood with calming goosebumps, soothing as lotus.
The playful rodents, in tandem with free spirited antelopes,
patter across, patter rhythmically,
while the birds chime in with rhyming songs
that dense my heart with peace worthy of the gods.