Consider Tender the Orchard of My Heart

by Michael Akuchie

Nikolai Artamonov

I leave open the windows so both palms of mine assemble the breeze for a carrying. My mouth becomes a cabinet of prayers. These hands form twin handles & God, when the wind slams into them, they shake. A bible nests in the night table, so much of its innards are cramped in the chalet of my eyes. Often, our stares cross paths so my fingers listen to the bible’s breathing through a rest on its frame. For the next stretch of minutes, I break the seal of lips to beckon God that He may consider tender the orchard of my heart. That He swoops down for an airlift when a nightmare robed in a beast’s fur is to swallow me. My palms bond, cup themselves to appear as a trampoline to catch God’s radiance. My body aches for the entrance of God whose seat of voice is loaded with response. It desires to lead Him through its network of wounds worn by a demand for a slice of light.

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Michael Akuchie is a poet of Igbo-Esan descent. Wreck was selected by José Olivarez to win The 2019–2020 Hellebore Poetry Scholarship Award. Recipient of the 2020 Roadrunner Poetry Prize and one-time nominee for the Orison anthology, he is a final year B.A. candidate in the Department of English and Literature, University of Benin, Nigeria. He is a one-time Best of the Net nominee. He tweets @Michael_Akuchie and reads submissions for FRONTIER Poetry.