Judith Luongo
Learning How To Say Things That Makes The Heart Bleed In Love Without Being Shy
every time i mean to write about happiness,
i remember the first time you called my name:
i. my heart found a reason to yearn for flowers
ii. the fibres of my emotion know what it feels like to be alive.
in the name of everything that makes the heart leap for joy:
i. i tattoo a rose and you in my eyes — hold my gaze captive and watch how a tattooed rose stretches itself to find peace in your hands
ii. i play a melody of how you smile
iii. i hold a mirror to watch how my head swells when thought of you envelops me.
in the name of you who make my skin crawl:
i. i commune with the star signs you impersonate in the odd hours of every night – it wears your light
ii. i staple myself to your page – where two are joined as one
Naphtali Festus Adda (he/him) is a Nigerian poet of Ekpan descent, and explores themes around love. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming on Praxis Magazine, atunis poetry, EBO quills, Ang(st) magazine, ponderservant, and chachalaca review. A physicist (in-view) with a great passion for art and literature. You can reach him on Twitter @festusadda, & Instagram @naphtali_festus_adda.
Judith Luongo has spent many years searching for clues about how we manage to keep evolving and surviving as imperfect, conflict ridden beings. Her art is informed by her practice as a Creative Arts Therapist and Psychoanalyst as well as by her many years of teaching Creative Arts Therapists. Judith’s work has moved through a period devoted to dreamy landscapes to character studies through portraiture and the figure. For the past five years she has been passionate about an abstract expressionist approach as she seeks to deepen her inquiry into the palpable presence of that which is unspoken and unspeakable. Her work has been shown at Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition; Pratt Institute; and Michael David & Co.