Review of “Us”, by John Owen E. Adimike

Liza Chuma Akunyili’s⁩ “US” is a tender and introspective love poem that captures the vulnerability, hesitation, and ultimate surrender of affection. It opens with emotional tension: “I’ve longed to see you / Yet, dreaded the conversation”, and that paradox sets the tone for the rest of the piece. The speaker is caught between desire and fear, between the yearning for connection and the anxiety that love might not survive its own intensity. This emotional ambivalence makes the poem feel deeply human. The strength of the poem lies in its emotional clarity and natural rhythm. Liza doesn’t overcomplicate the language; she lets the feeling breathe through short, unadorned lines. That simplicity makes the poem intimate, as if the reader has stumbled upon a private confession. The line “I could be drowned in your eyes and not fight for my life” is particularly arresting; it carries the risk and beauty of love in one stroke. The choice of “drowned” evokes surrender, danger, and ecstasy all at once, while “not fight for my life” transforms what would be fear into acceptance.

The closing couplet, “Here, this is my life / You and I, like white on rice / This is my life”, completes the emotional arc beautifully. What began as longing and doubt resolves into peace and belonging. The repetition of “this is my life” serves as both affirmation and closure: it anchors the reader in the speaker’s realization that love, with all its risk, is her chosen life. Stylistically, the poem balances the conversational tone of modern love poetry with a lyrical undercurrent. There’s a quiet confidence in how it ends, a kind of whispered victory over fear. “US” works because it doesn’t try too hard to be profound; its power lies in emotional honesty. It feels like love stripped of pretense: fragile, real, and enduring.