Jude Chukwuemeka Muoneke

THE GUEST

 

Oh! Dim omma
you are now 
a guest 
in your home. 

Months of self sacrifice 
to green white green, 
What a clarion call! 
To obey the last order. 

Your jungle boots 
weep in sambisa forest, 
Rifle the bead of your prayers. 

The yogurt seed 
you planted in me 
is fast growing, 
My legs, the cross bearer. 

Goodbye hurts my lips, 
Though my hands move
motionless in the air, 
Beckoning you to come back.

Fear lives in me, 
But my prayers go with you, 
If the going gets tough, 
Obim, run back home. 

How will I cope 
without you? 
It will be hard, 
But grace will help me. 

Oh! Don\'t make me 
a widow, 
I\'m too young 
to journey that road. 

What a cross 
I have to bear! 
For making you 
my Romeo. 

My heart skips 
every night, 
As I lie on our bed, 
Tears my prayer points. 

I know you shall return, 
But if fate wins 
the looming fears, 
Then, wait for me. 

If I can\'t survive 
the tag of a widow, 
Then will I hasten the journey 
to our second wedding bed.