When She Went, I Cried

By ​Chukwuebuka Alu

For Stephanie Chidinma Agu (Stephanie was easily the best person I have ever met. She died on the 19th of September, 2025. May her soul rest in peace.)

​after death,
your eyes become night.
 
your smile wanes
like wall-paint.
 
your skin softens
like linen.
 
your stare,
white. 

---

​Chukwuebuka Alu is a Nigerian writer and the founder of The Akachi Creative Writing Foundation. His poetry has either been selected as a finalist or shortlisted or nominated for The Best of Net (2021), the Stephen A. Dibiase Poetry Prize (2021 & 2024), The Jack Grapes Poetry Prize (2021), the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize (2022) and the Brigette Poirson Literature Prize (2024).