Shafts Of Sunrays Poem by Felix Bongjoh

(i)

Sun is shooting
shafts
and arrows

of jumping,
sinking rays

to brew gold
mineshafts

in a poet's
inner bowl
deepening

into an empty
rattling
and rumbling
barrel
with a barren field,

dry land
of sand and gravel
covering
tons of gold.

Poet, fill your
barrel with
fire opals from striking
sun beams.

Fill it with
rutile quartz
and zircons
and tourmalines.

(ii)

When a tiger's
eye roars
through a ray's shafts,

leave your silver
forest
of interwoven
rays for dimmer
graphite rays,

as a spray
of gray clouds
covers bright
gold rays
of afternoon.

In the bright glass
Of gold sunrays,

fill your inkpot
with cotton
lace ink, leaving
alabaster

to sketch
and spray
the egret that flies
you to a new
mineshaft of sun

expanding a gold
minefield
to scoop out
the golden egret

to fly back
with the gold ring
of a poem,

its protagonist
still scooping out
gold dust.

(iii)

When sunshine
pours down
in pearl feathers
and ivory
wings, let it land

on the castle
of the gods pulling
down strings

of sun
to scoop out
canary

and daffodil rays
for
the trombone
to blast a sky

into a flame
of gold finches
singing out
lines of a chorus

in golden
flashy squiggles
of sunrays
for the poet

to scoop
out more gems
for a poem
to fly
with a golden eagle.