Tribute to Prof Chinua Achebe
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Shhhh
Piam!
And silence erupts after a loud blast
Has Amadioha stepped foot on land
Where are the greatest soothsayers
Come and tell us what’s invisible to the eye
Where from the dark clouds
The circling of birds up in the sky
What is happening?
Things have fallen apart
And the center of humanity can’t hold
The soothsayers talk of a fallen tree
A tree so huge and roots so deep
A tree of ancestral greatness
Everyone asks
Which tree has been uprooted from the very bosom of mother earth?
Foots steps of the gods are heard at yonder
And in unison they shout
Achebe Achebe Raise Achebe
Welcome to the Spirit World Achebe
Women wail and men ask
Is it Obiageli’s son Achebe?
Or Nnamdi’s father Achebe
Is it Achebe the palm wine tapper?
Or Achebe the great hunter of Igbo land?
And still the gods chant
Achebe Achebe Raise Achebe
Welcome to the spirit World Achebe
Humanity runs to the fallen tree
A tree so huge and roots so deep
A tree of Ancestral greatness
A flash of lightning strikes
And behold a soothsayer goes into trance
And starts dancing
An old mourning dance of Amadioha
Every turn so calculated with meaning
Behold he shouts
He is Achebe
Chinua Achebe
And with that the earth goes silent
Calamity has fallen
Igwe must soon commence rituals for the departed soul
Not just any soul?
The soul of Achebe, Chinua Achebe
Fia!!!!
Ibano
Who will tell Okonkwo?
That the very veins and blood he comes from, lies still
Achebe women wail mentioning your name
Achebe great men mention your name and shake their heads
Achebe little children ask is he the one we heard of?
Achebe the gods chant
Achebe ooo Achebe Raise Achebe
Welcome to the spirit world Achebe
Yet lying is Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Mother Africa’s very beloved son
There lying still is the very hands
That scribbled Okonkwo and his many brothers and sisters to life
There lying still is the very brain
That made Okonkwo so strong yet weak
Achebe Achebe Raise Achebe
Welcome to the spirit world Achebe
At last Chineke’s son returns to Him
Accomplished of his earthly duties
May the tears of humanity
Flow thee great man of words
Into the spirit world Achebe
The center no more holds
And things have fallen apart
A hero goes back to Chineke
Achebe O Achebe
Chinua Achebe.
Author: Nii Palm (www.233times.net)
ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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