TWO VOICED FLUTE

by Uche Ogbuji

From Fall 2016

 Play on flute of the twin voices,
 The shy, two-toned harmonizer,
 Throaty foundation,
 A floor to extend under any
        Wandering trajectory
            Of the song's feet.
 

 Garrulous double,
      Taiwo of tall echo
      With a full hand's collection
          Of tones,
      Translator for the sacred bush of ghosts.
      Even in this land where the
           Plants have been
                Press into metamorphic
                     Grains of sand.
 

 Taken together a compass
           With the artists emblem at the angle
      A mason with a perfect
          Standing
      Corner
          At
      The heels.
 

 But a less logical angle
      At the hand hold below
             The ambiguous mouthpiece:
                  Raw earth stirred with water requires room
                      For width of a mammal's pulse.
      Adobe.
      Jideobi.
      Adobe.
      Jideobi.
 

 Two branches carrying in their xylem
      The flow from twin tributaries,
           Imo Mmiri and Colorado.
 

 The spaceship lights have dot-dashed the message from frogland,
 Throaty foundation
           Of water.
                The Bonny Bight over the ocean.
                The Bonny Bight over the sea.
                Oh bring back Biafara to me.
 And from doldrum Atlantis the dual in the message:
           Two-toned flute, garrulous, speaking
                     For untold, mute ghosts.
 

 They gather to gawk at this
 Roomful of travelers
                 Before plucking
                 My ear's nerve
                            With recognition,
                            Then
                                Right as I turn
                                      The Doppler shapes dipper,
 

 Attenuating
 Into its lovely pairs.
 

 

 Note: Imo mmiri—Great river of the author's home state. Mmiri is Igbo for water.