Hello, Goodbye.
He’s on air now,
Wrong use, I know but my choice still
He’s airing to that place
Where everything like the transfiguration will change.
I didn’t want to know
A call said no
And here I am
Keeping watch.
I shouldn’t dwell therein
My mind disagrees
And as I reluctantly swallow like pills this afternoon pap
Spoonful after spoonful
My subconscious records the minutes for me
As they slowly waste away.
Right now it says 14:44
And just like the last time, and the one before that
I do the remainder math.
I look for the sweetness in life
Only to take solace in more milk
And sugar
Greedily I pour and drink away.
I dial the number
Just to kill the doubt
Knowing it is in vain
And finding it switched off.
These words are hard to say
Like the last time I saw him
But I must utter them
And be gone too.
So Goodbye, when you see him for I know you surely will
Tell him I ask, what becomes of his office
I don’t want to see
Any strange name there.
Tell him I said
If he remembers me
Let him smile and make a wish
For life is short and everything is soon lost.
Tell him I said
He should remember his family
And show much love
No matter how distant, to them.
Tell him I said
Friends are soon foes
And foes become friends
He should be mindful of friends and foes alike.
Goodbye, tell him to not bring any white woman back
Especially those with the silicon in their breasts
Skin deep surgeries
And guns in their purses.
Tell him we love Chioma, Chika
And what’s-her-name at the excursion place
Tell him to think of them with much joy and love
And to desist from that which is Precious, at all times.
Tell him to not lose faith no matter what comes knocking
For the torrents and tides will come
And like animals let loose growl and roar
Threatening to rip off his very existence.
Tell him his faith can stand the test of time
Whether of tornadoes, tsunamis or hurricanes
He is strong
Goodbye make sure you tell him that.
Tell him I said
I will try to not think of him
And to suffer from that mind disease
Where I remember his name no more.
Tell him my prayers are with him
Now and always
And tell him I must go on
And him too.
Tell him to always be happy
To guard with jealousy his joy
And tell him to kill depression
For it can make him sleep with the enemy.
Finally Goodbye, tell him I sent you
And tell him I said ‘Hello.’
