Two Maidens Poem by Onyi Ogwumike

Soaring on silky currents of hot air
The sun’s lips run over in kisses,
Which straight into sprint take their course in paths
Under my fragile wings.
In the arms of Summer’s adoring gaze,
Elating,
A pair of able vast palms pressing into my spirit.
Lifting,
And thus do I embark in flight to the seated clouds which rest in thrones of gold.
Round about me do they sit and among them Time, Present, and Future.
Then did Time rise from his seat of midnight velvet,
Deciding at last to lend his hand in my endeavor.
Retiring to a far off field somewhere,
Voluntarily as well.
Smiling and permitting me to do likewise.
I smile,
No longer hindered by too short hours,
Fleeting days that flee from my consciousness,
Slipping away as sand through my fingers.
Estranged months,
Longing for a little more than the temporary.
I once supposed months were all Time had to offer,
Then in his absence,
Was I greeted by two young maidens.
The first,
Glowed
With a hue of gold that kissed her cheeks ever so slightly.
She spoke with lips of honey,
A voice just as sweet,
Giving off airs laced with lavender and lasting traces of blisses had.
Her presence made that of the Present’s
(Who previously sat among the gathering in a state of apparently permanent bleakness)
Now gleam.
Adding a new vibrancy to the smooth brown stones sitting in her eyes.
This maid,
Stepped into the spotlight of the Sun’s rays
And I saw what Time had hid.
I saw Hope.
She straight entered my party,
Agreeing to stay with me through all.

The second maiden,
I recognized slightly as she had been present while Time still reigned.
But now matured,
Now stronger.
With endurance radiating off of her honey brown skin.
Her raven waves flowing in a black fountain,
Sprouting and spewing youth.
A crown of intertwined Fates placed carefully upon her head a while ago,
By Aphrodite herself.
Never could I forget her full crimson lips
Parted in innocent joy.
A readily maintained, faint euphoria bubbling in her heart.
As it bubbles in one in
Love.
Her deep ebony irises glittered
In a beautiful appreciation for Life,
Life now sweetened by
This maid,
A familiar friend, now matured
And strengthened by Time’s absence,
Would now agree to journey at my side.
Remaining with me,
Despite Time’s heavy regulations,
Love
Given a surname,
Love Enduring.
Two maidens, Time’s best.
And now I, equipped with their steady presence,
Look towards Future.
Turning to face her, my eyes ablaze with resilient fire,
And I say,
“My sweet Mistress,
I am yours”
I bow to her courteously.
A sly smile, dripping in confidence,
Lays plastered on my lips.
Let the games begin.