The Triumph of Myself

Poetry by Jonathan Chibuike Ukah

I have triumphed over the choking of my body,
over my flushed and angry self, my hauntings,
the way I carried myself from birth, like death,
as though I was alone in the labour room
and my mother waited in the corridor,
hoping to embrace me in one piece.

I have triumphed over my body,
that itched and snagged each time I was in a river,
and asking me to plunge i…