THE LAST CONVERSATION

"The Last Conversation" __________________ Tribute to his father: You old man, yes you down there resting peacefully in your wooden box Enjoying the comfort of your new bed with your eyes and lips zipped but ears open to listen you have left people crying for you I too have come to cry to you but not for you Did you not tell me, that I would inherit your Paradise and opulent life that I admired since childhood? O late father, First it was your wife, our mother who abandoned us She gracefully journeyed to immortality without even a good bye, and now its you, you too have done the same That which is ultimate betrayal to your offsprings Stop ignoring the truths I'm saying Look, open your eyes and see Don't let the guilt bring shame on you, My egghead, I thought I would bear your pride and dignity but now its your family's burden and curses, all your once old friends accord me mockery and abuse, for all your mistakes, yet fail to thank me for your small successes My late father, let your burning spirit talk to me let it be honest just this once and tell me, Am I a result of condom burst That you leave me nothing to inherit? But for the old mud hut that is designed by the engravings of the tallies of your debts that now I have to pay..!! You are just like Okonkwo's late father but let me tell you I'll be just as brave as Okonkwo himself His Father's Response: ______________ You youthful beast, For once listen to me Listen keenly to the words that my still lips mutter From a life of agony I deserved this rest To lie in the sofa of the demise In the bosom of the terrible beast death Have you come to scorn my remains or beg blessings of my bones? Son hear ye not the frivolity and emptiness in thy speech? From nature's toil man must find rest, Remember this ain't a world of immortality Son look about and see, Survey my handiworks and produce The livestock to remain and plantations have thee My compound I'm not taking six-feet Nor are my garments going with me Son are these things not worthy inheritance? And ye spake those goodies as shame? Now, my dead heart I left behind in the mortuary bleeds It bleeds profusely, With pain, blood, and grief Ah, the empty hallow on my left chest pulsates faster Son how I wish to rise again But my soul's gone to eternity And before I go beneath where your feet tread son Listen one last time, to my trembling voice It's for your sake I left those debts, It's the result of the 48 cowries I borrowed to pay your bride price That is the reason you now have a wife But son now you stand atop my mortal remains as an ingrate Those debts you see, They're yours son They're yours to pay That's why you're a poro man Till the rich soil and be strong Enjoy the produce of the earth thereof Let thy labor bring thee rest Son you have to fight on, Yes, you have to fight to be a man And if thou think thyself a ruthless Okonkwo Then prepare to depart this earth in shame and darkness, One greater than Odewale Good bye son, good bye, I must return to my perpetual rest