What a Poem is

Jonathan Ukah

A poem in the morning is a cup of hot coffee.
Fresh from sleep, we are still drugged,
dragging our heavy feet over the floor,
our hearts fuzzy, our hands frozen,
trembling like Judah before a siege,
our heads dizzy, our eyes burning
from the fire of ignited sleep;
our bodies are not yet alive,
they are dead from yesterday’s slaughter.
We yearn for a revival, an intoxication
into what we regard as our present.
Falling back to sleep is what we cannot afford;
So much to do; so much we have done,
but there is no time, and we are older.
The endless beauty is unconquerable.
We must stay awake, focused, and frontal.
we must remain confrontational,
brave and of great courage to conquer.
There comes a smoky cup of coffee,
a freshly brewed poem,
straight from the oven like new bread,
into our outstretched hands, wide open mouths,
into our dead hearts to make them live.
Have you ever drunk a cup of hot tea,
woven like silk and stirred by the night?

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Jonathan Ukah
Jonathan Ukah is the author of the chapbook, A is for Anfang. His poems are in The Pierian, Boomer Literary Magazine, Kingsman Quarterly and elsewhere. He won the Alexander Pope Poetry Award 2025 of The Pierian Literary Magazine. He has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize.