USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ode To Da Ukwenga

(A Poem By Chidi Anthony Opara For Late Mazi Vitalis Ukwenga Onyekwere)

 

You were born in plenty,

Your infant mouth

Was fed with spoons

Made of silver.

 

But

When you started to study

The hands of death

Took your wealthy father.

The wealth of your father

Servants squandered.

 

Yet

With wages from manual labour

You studied.

You wore well

The gown of scholarship.

You wore well

The ring of matrimony.

You wore well

The crown of fatherhood.

 

You traveled

To all corners of your country

Counting

The cash of your country,

The books of account

You kept tidy.

Your efforts were rewarded,

Many were unrewarded.

 

When time was due for rest

You came home

With your head held high.

You came home

With your immaculate robe of service

Unblemished.

You battled bravely with age,

With infirmities of the body.

You died

With your honours intact.

 

Da Ukwenga,

Descendant

From the lineage of fame.

Son of Onyekwere

The famed healer,

The famed man of means

Of Ikeduruland and beyond,

My granduncle.

 

Da Ukwenga,

My uncle,

My role model.

Ngwanu,

Laa na udo.

 

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