All things deserve their portion of air
even if borrowed, even if it lingers
no longer than a sigh
caught between silence and vanishing.
The mango tree opens its green-veined skin,
offering its throat to the blade—
resistance in silence.
Forgive the tree its barren seasons,
when hunger settled in our bellies.
Forgive it still, for the memory it holds.
Surely, all things wilt away,
some like snow
kissing the mouth of morning.
Yet there is always a place to flee,
a way to return different,
clean as moonlight on river silk.
Isn’t the mango tree the same—
growing beyond time,
holding a photograph
of my father,
of my tender beginning?
Once, he climbed its limbs
to outrun a stray dog.
I still recall the bites
of countless afternoons
How this same tree
softened hunger
before it struck.
And so, O tree,
O memory,
I will not stand
and watch you bleed red.
Ferdinand Emmanuel Somtochukwu
Ferdinand Emmanuel Somtochukwu, Swan XXI, is a young emerging Nigerian poet and essayist. He was the First Runner-up in the Champion Educational Poetry Competition (2024) and shortlisted for the Quickbite Poetry Contest (2024). He has works published or forthcoming in Arts Longue, Kalahari Review, AprilCentaur, Poetry Column, Poetry Sango-Ota, Isele, Anmly and elsewhere. Connect with him on X (Twitter) @EmmanuelSomto17.
