A Storm Wave's Reach

By Felix Bongjoh

A storm brews gyrating downward-pulling waves in its immediate surroundings and spills drizzles that may be felt far off in or away from a ship. On a shore. In the hinterland. It captures and mimics life which is ideally lived far away from the center of turbulence. And when there’s no choice, people flee uphill to higher elevations. They flee to distant islands, to other countries, but still have their feet planted in their motherland. In life’s whirlpools of turbulence, some survive, others perish, but nature somehow perpetually preserves. And as life goes on love, violence, death, passion, history, intercultural relations, childhood and earlier memories that leave shadows and trails one cannot flee from, rain or shine. On the whole, this set of poems capture life from the foregoing perspective.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Nov 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781490798561

Felix Bongjoh

Felix Bongjoh, currently living in Boston, Massachusetts, is an International Human Capital Development Consultant, who previously worked for an international organization for some 30 years. In addition to the present twenty-fifth book, Saddle On Thunder, Bongjoh has previously published 24 books of poetry, as follows: (i) Chorus on a Bridge; (ii) Broken Gloss of Bliss; (iii) Nightfall at Dawn; (iv) When Dusk Hoots; (v) Weeds of Jewelry; (vi) Season of Flowers; (vii) The Ineluctable Spin; (viii) Gloom’s Sprout of Love; (ix) Spectrum of Zephyrs; (x) Whistles in the Wind; (xi) The Sun Still Glitters; (xii) Cliff of Sirens; (xiii) Quiet Shadows Scream; (xiv) Angle of Angels; (xv) Sculpted Out of Sky; (xvi) Feathers of Fur; (xvii) Through Sundry Waves; (xviii) Beyond Dying Ripples; (xix) Doors to Eris; (xx) Outskirts of Inner Bowl; (xxi) Ebbing Out, Bouncing Back; (xxii) Tailored To The Stars; (xxiii) A Storm Wave’s Reach; and (xxiv) Isles Of Light.

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Copyright 2019 Felix Bongjoh.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-9855-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-9856-1 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Trafford rev. 11/22/2019

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This book is dedicated to Agnes Josiane Bongjoh, my beloved departed daughter

Contents

Boulder Opal Shore

The Homecoming Ship

Trailing Dents

A Supermarket’s Jungle

From Church’s Shore To Home’s Jungle

Two Islands On One

A Curl Of History

A Snake’s Day

Flowers And Roots

Empty Net, Full Nest

A Nightjar’s Morning

Dangling Roof

A Lion’s Heart

A Party’s Ship

A Night’s Silence

Heavy Price Of A Junket

To A Potentate

On A Shore

As They Climb Down

Iced Sun

Dusk On A Papery Sky

A Lad’s Ultimate Wriggle

Sailing Wrecked Ship

The Glazed Catch

Slim Budget

Evening Silhouettes By A Shore

Voices At Night

Price Of A Smirk

Toys

A Star-danced Night

Clouds From A Cup Of Tea

Midnight Showers

Dog Bone From A Cloud

Beacon-lined Desk

Mooing Cow By A Closet

The Flute Of Sleep

Silence

Stumbled

Man In A Dark Jacket

Beach Storm

Spirals Of Storm

Where Kite And Stork Lived

Cramming Reptile

Diving Through Seas Of Knowledge

The Two Stars

The Flag-Raising Ceremony

A Flame Wort’s Glow

Many Dents Unfilled

Sunken Cheeks

Broken Fingers

Boulder Opal Shore

(i)

The moon has dropped

off the coast,

the Atlantic Ocean waving streamers

and ribbons flying out

from round grins

and curved rivulets from wailing

faces, passengers

on a deck of oval arcs

of tired travelers

hibernating under arches

crumbling on them.

Stooping under umbrellas

near oars

winds forgot with the unflapped

wings of a storm.

(ii)

The moon has dropped

off a deck ringing

altar boys’ bells, a priest saying a mass

zephyrs carry to chests

and foreheads of Christians

dressed in Ash Wednesday’s soot,

and Muslims knelt

to the rise of a midnight sun

shooting down

flamed rays

through funneled crevices,

a sky’s chimney

breathing out crimson patches.

The babbling cauldrons

of talkative passengers swollen

into swaying tree branches

from which tits

and robins of joy fleet out

with croaking crows.

Birds and frogs fly

and skip

from chest buried in chest,

from beaming forehead

buried under armpits

folded up like broken twigs.

(iii)

In outbursts of rainstorm

and coughed-out fits

of gales brewing

a tornado of death taking root

from the center

of the Bamenda Commercial Avenue.

Rolling through Libialem,

where boys born

before age with trunk arms

and tree-branch fingers,

have pulled down

a heavy machine bringing death

from air and molecules

of corrupt breath

from fat-headed clusters

of masked men

twisting faces on paperwork.

(iv)

Carrying gobs of blood

On fleeing gliding desks,

a patient

in burning Kumba Hospital

scooping out ashes from face,

as he’s whisked off

from broken rails hooting

off to Muyuka,

where the firestorm’s tail

has devoured

a four-month baby,

leaving parents

in the ashes by Mount Fako

to scream with hooting owls,

the sun burning

out daylight

on the deck of a storm-broken ship.

The Homecoming Ship

(i)

Polished moon stones

bounce on and on

into kite bubbles lifted into air.

Into a quartz-filled

upper floor of hawk eyes,

where neon floats

in the bloated gown of