A.A.Ozioma Murders Death.

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 I died a death

Yet in my death I refused to die

Anguish gave me no peace

Solitary gave me no rest

My grave, without me

And the underworld a journey, I never took

In my conscious oblivion, I thought

Hoping, searching

The world I once knew

No longer in existence

Eroded by greed, the creed of greeds

A quest to better “self”

Became a quest to destroy “us”:

Did you forget?

When a brother was a brother’s keeper

And a sister a companion

When communality was our bond

Oh, yesterday you dined with me

And today my son helped yours on the farm

We even gossiped on our way from the stream

We talked of our children

What blessing they have been

Yes, they are the best at school

But they also helped in domestic chores;

Sweeping, axing, cooking, then played together

How contended we were, just watching them

Then we talked about our husbands – our lords

Men of bravery and dignity

Warriors, farmers, hunters, fishermen

Do you remember?

Your husband caught an antelope

And mine, well, a rabbit

(We couldn’t stop laughing)

You and I

But I wasn’t bothered

Your husband brought us a portion of the antelope meat

And my husband gave yours a portion of our little rabbit

Then, together under the starry night

They not only shared a calabash of wine

But also their glories and failures

Laughing into the glowing darkness

You and I

We sat by the kitchen fire

Chatting to our heart’s fill

The children long gone to bed

“Early to bed, early to rise”, they say

But what is this gully?

Why did I become suddenly invisible to you?

How did I stop hearing your many cries?

Locked within our high fences we became deaf, dumb and blind

You fell, no hand to lift you

My husband died, no comforting bossom

In pain, I watched my children dig their father a grave

Limbs too steady for their age

Schooling ghostly survival

Perfecting customized loneliness

In our ownless community

The youths? All gone to “office – so much to do”

“Let the dead bury the dead”, they quote

No second glance or thought of care

So for my children’s sake

I defy death

And for generations unborn

I murder death

I’ll fill this gully

I’ll path the ocean

I’ll pull down the fence

I’ll kill solitary

Now I am at your door

Arms stretched out

To embrace those moments again

To awaken communion

Dare you refuse?

                                                                                                                           A.A. Ozioma

aaozioma@yahoo.com