​By the Thames by Jonathan Ukah

​We slump under the calm sky,
By the bank of the Thames,
And weep like grass in a lagoon.

Waves crash against us,
In the gleaming quiet of the tide
Like dawn against darkness.

There in the pool of blood,
We piece our shadows together,
Ebbed in a world of struggle.

We cry; we wet the shores
Of the bloody Thames,
With streams of our broken dreams.

We lie on the porch of the sea;
Waiting to float along,
Slinging towards hopelessness.

In the blurred distance,
A wave of lifeless bodies litter
Upon the waveless sea.

Our tears fall like raindrops,
Painting the sea yellow,
And the sky purple.

I hear the hum of the wind 
In a cocktail of gold and red,
And a gloss of floating grief.

But nothing grief can stay
Upon the tidal sea and moon,
Upon the strait of change.

I return to my sacred home
Where gold leaves strewn the floor,
And feel hope surge like a tide.


​Jonathan Ukah is a graduate of English living in London. His poems have appeared in various journals and anthologies, including the Ohio State University anthology, Dwelling During the Pandemic, published in May 2021; the Poet Magazine's collection on Ukraine, published in April 2022, the Discretionary Love magazine, State of Matter magazine, etc.