Snapshots from Oguta Lake, 2025|By Chinaza James-Ibe, first published on poetry Column-NND

1. Powder-blue silk spread, 

like a mother at rest on Sunday evenings. 

Powder-blue, marvelous blue—brown-hemmed

swoosh of a bohemian skirt. 

On the surface of your stomach, pebble-sized

and humbled, you keep us. 

2. Flanking you on one side—

naked woman, naked child

perched on the gentle rise of her breasts. 

On the other, 

Boys playing throwball in the mire.

Naval boats—yawning mouths hidden in 

short shadows. 

3. On deck, 

two life jackets locked in an armless embrace;

navy-blue BMW, bonnet incised with rust. 

4.How quickly you patch yourself 

as we slice through your torso like a catena

of tickled surgeons. How you tighten your stitches 

for our return. 

5. Ishtar. 

For miles, you hold the heavens. 

6. On your banks, 

a black-eyed ewe suckles her lamb. 

muzzle angled at the camera. 

Two black sheep stroll 

across the vast grey. 

7. How the sun makes sequins of your ripples.