Legacy: two poems by Vernon Mukumbi

image by Dietmar Ematinger, on Pixabay, modified

Legacy

The sagging chair

sits, reclusive,

still wears

the old Bishop’s

fading leather

and bits of grey hair.

It remains

in the lighthouse,

the little prayer room—        

watching over

the encroaching sea,

beckoning sailors

to solid ground,

as light flickers

into the deep.

                  *

Tree

The tree sits,

weathering through time.

Its trunk wears dry,

crannied skin.

Gnarled branches,

largely bald,

give off a muted sheen.

With clearing skies,

the sun looks through the tree

uninterrupted.

A few yellowish-green leaves,

sewn to sagging branches,

dangle and pace about                             

as though seeking the shade

under an adjacent roof.

The promise lingers:

the tree waits;

so do I.                                                    

A little folding of the hands

until the Lord should send

his dew upon us all.

_________________________

Vernon Mukumbi is a medical doctor based in Zambia, Africa. His poetry

has previously appeared in the Apple Valley Review.

(August 2026 issue)