And the fireside, under,
The Udara tree,
I have seen them mock you,
And worship your death.
You, *Okonko, Public shamer,
Whose music made men merry,
Terror you were to wicked hearts.
You who summoned to your courts,
With the wave of a palm-frond
Child of the 7 streams,
At the roots of Ida-Iyi
Where Omu keeps silent
To the flirtations of Ndi Okpo!
Okonko! Okonko!!
For 14 days,
You lay, hiding
Only to be caught,
By the stranger’s dog
And the people you loved.
You were taunted,
Wounded! Naked,
You ran in the village square,
Hands tied and watched
Your shrines burnt!
Okonko! Okonko!
We wanted to bathe our bodies,
But washed our stomachs.
Now we rust, away,
Druken in our folly.
We killed a warrior
In our household skirmish!
Who shall now defend us
As war gathers, like angry clouds
Over a farm in the valley?
Now the filth of our lands,
Are like green hills
On savannah plains;
They stick out like ripe boils
On oiled skin!
*Okonko is a masquerade in the igbo society responsible for maintaining law and order.
Written by: Nwakanma Chika
Edited by: Kukogho Iruesiri Samson
