By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
30. Epitaph for the country
Tornadoes in the Eastern sky,
Hurricane and thunderstorm
In the West.
About the wet Mountains
Echo slippery feet stagger
With bangles of dirge.
From the tormented corners,
Tongues and limbs
Queue the immortal gates
Amidst woes
In the boiling firmament.
When the trek is finished
After the night,
The curtain is drawn.
Angels of no blemish
Will on the tombs place in red:
Swollen-Beasts that ate selves;
I on marble will place: Fiery Abattoir
31. Amadiaoha
Every day; every day,
I come to this place,
Paying your noble edifice
Visits of old.
The visits
The village heart has left
For the slippery shinning pulpits.
The visits
They call profane.
They call you idol, made of wood.
Your place, the devils abode.
The abode
That bred our holy ancestors,
The abode of peace,
The peace they cry for.
Let them cry;
Until they come back,
Not a grain will grow
In their dirty barren fields.
Victor Chukwuma, Professor of Physics, renowned for his immense contribution to the development of Astronomy and Space Science in Nigeria, is a Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Physics.
