Empty Streets

We walk down the street
with joined hands, twined hearts,
staring at the darkness
engulfing the closed shutters,
shoppers trooping out of shops,
mothers shouting at playful children,
tugging at husbands’ arms;
father’s watching the birds perch
on grey roofs with shadowy chimneys,
watching girls chatting at the edge of the streets,
eyes at the gap between now and tomorrow,
listening to uninvited conversations,
hearing the cries of the seagulls,
waves crash at the nearby river.
When the silence between them deepens
she, too, looks elsewhere,
where flowers grow on pavements,
and the sky descends on boulevards.
where there is no one to stare at her

Jonathan Chibuike Ukah is a Pushcart-nominated poet from the United Kingdom. His poems have been featured in The Pierian, San Antonio Review, Atticus Review, Unleash Lit, Propel Magazine and elsewhere. He won the Alexander Pope Poetry Award in 2023 and was shortlisted for the Minds Shine Bright Poetry in 2024.