Planted in your soil for what seemed like a century
About you trudged and drudged
Proclaiming my imminent arrival
Like yam sprout out of its tuberous root
Out of your womb I streamed
Amidst threatening throes
The best of your sacred fluid I sucked
With your face my super screen
Where I saw scenes of manic sacrifices
Spurred by seeds of unfeigned affection
You prioritized me above your will and wish
As you minutely poured yourself into me
Everywhere
Anywhere
Every time
And anytime
Even when it meant your sleep must sink
And your comfort shrink
You braved the rave
To lead me to worlds of mythical scenes
Through your ingenuous lullabies.
Your pearly bosom was beyond my pond of perks
My pillow of comfort
My life-evolving toy
I gulped
I fondled
I innocently bit in pleasure
As life flowed into me from the tap of your soul
The pains you felt notwithstanding
My fountain remained subsistent; steadfast
Your time with me no clock can measure
You stayed and played as you nurtured
Much more than you natured me in your fecund soil;
You were my Bentley
Your ever- ready back my cherished corner
Where I caught glimpses of life’s scenes and seeings
As I explored the world in my nascent vista.
You remain the life of my wings
Oh yes, you are!
Fresh are flashes of your trowel steadily plastering my face
Like a mason would the walls of a cherished estate
The gods of the class simply built on the blocks you painly laid
As you taught my untutored hands to pen
And my tottering tongue to speak
Until I was saved from drowning in the pool of dunces;
When blusters from the forest of life
Raged to muffle my courage
They charged to still and steal my dreams
And devour my most beautiful tomorrow
You turned out my hero, my mother
When the heavy hand of dearth
A crushing blow dealt on my face
My skinny frame was left unshielded
And caressed by heart-breaking cold
No calico, cambric sheets even
Desert you found a blanket
To shield my chest from devastating blows
How best do I requite this indescribable sacrifice
From an idol that pales others into obscurity?
It really pains to think
That nothing is worth the value of your immeasurable sacrifice
I can only pray you live long and strong, pronged
In part by the valiant hand of Olodumare, and
By the boundless joy you feel
As you relish the fruits of your blessed womb
Peak to the Sun
Before the inescapable ax comes calling
You shall remain the nexus of my honour
I will make all sorrows sink and joys last
I will nurture you in all with my all
Till you breathe your last
And fade permanently from my view
I will make you dance with infinite joy
That this ‘little’ life that reeled out of your soil
Was not submerged by the river of your monthly flow.
How it beats any logic
That a womb that once nursed a dozen souls
And breasted a dozen mouths
Is left to sag in sullen sorrows without care
With none to recompense the years of her boundless sacrifice
And the dedication of her towering love!
Why is there no one to make her feel
That her supreme sacrifices of motherhood
are never in vain?
why?
why?
why?
*Odubajo is Business Communication and Educational Consultant, and a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos. ([email protected] +2348028115734)
