PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

1.



The sudden emergence,

Of the priest from the ageless shrine,

Brought Ugbene back with a jolt.

He wore a most horrid look

And the shrine looked most strange.

Even the trees and shrubs around

All seemed to join

In the horrid strangeness.

A calmness most uncanny

Took sway, and all around them stood

In silence……..submissive silence.

And those jovial animals too

Belonging to their great god

So unlike their natures now

Bowed, quiet, and tranquil, in full worship

To their revered priest,

And maybe  to his visitor too

Also in support of the strange journey.

Then ogbudu the priest,

With a voice ringing through Ete

‘Etedi  your son has come,

You who guard Ete

Your son has come to answer

You are the one who cracked the kernel

Gathering the chicken.

Do you ever call and not get an answer?

Which son of man says no to your call?

Life, death, woes, and pestilence

Success, greatness, and failure,

Do they not lie in your hands?

Do you not give as you please?

Wealth, poverty, sons, and daughters,

Are they not yours to give?

You built this land and gave it to our ancestors

Teaching them to tender it.

Our crops and animals, you gave them.

Yam the king of crops,

Cocoyam for our women

Maize, beans, and all other kinds of crops.

Animals, small and big.

Our gratitude, Etedi

Listen, we express it

Listen, we tell you that we come.

We come to answer your call



2.

When a father calls, his children answer

When a deity calls,…………..’

The thick smoke

Emerging from the ground

Right under their feet

Seized the words from the suppliant priest.

It looked to Ugbene,

As though they stood still

The world just changed.

A big change in an instant.

But Ogbudu knew better

There was a movement,

Not a man’s movement

As the world changed only in an instant.

But the priest knew better

There was a movement

A great one.

For a being counting as man,

Such movement would have been on

For two days without stop

How different in his new state

A transformed man.

Ugbene could hardly feel any little time,

Glide away.

The prayers of Ugbene

Took away his failing human nature

It was the visit to ala nmuo

The enveloping spinning strange smoke

Silently surged them

Into the deep never empty womb of the earth

From where it had emerged

And the first step away

From the human domain was taken.

Passing through was horrid

The sights were deadening, deadly

Forms beyond knowing

All filled the seeming void.

As the thick solid of the earth

Was traversed fast,

It gave way, as quickly as the eye could wink.

These beings, evidently hostile

Attacked the strangers,

Ugbene and Ogbudu.

Hauling  heave darts at them,

Ete kept the silent soaring men

The darts touched their bodies

Going through without any harm

And so, the visitors remained unharmed.



3.

Something strong, too powerful,

Never to be overcome,

Took away all earth consciousness

From Ugbene the warrior,

As they moved to see the spirits.

He indeed attempted a swing,

To drive away the formless beings,

All after them,

But here again,

Something, not unlike that force

Keeping him away from the earth

Leaving him so limp in head

And oblivious of men’s home

Held him on

To the destined course.

Soon, that phase was gone

A twilight hue came over them.

Silent as the grave,

A resting place of good spirits

As they finally journeyed home

For a rest among their kin.

Here,

There were no hostile hosts

No noise from unfriendly formless beings

Even the wind stood still.

It was here, that Ugbene began

To realize who he was

And where he was

As conscious thoughts came back.

Here did he remember he was man

Full man, formed.

And not a formless being

As those who hauled darts at them.

Much more frightened was he

As the realization of his manhood

Came upon him.

He held on

To the strand of palm

At Ogbudu’s waist,

Who himself floated on,

Almost without knowledge

Of his companion’s presence.

The floating,

After many more scenes,

Of sights indiscernible,

And of beings indescribable

Shortly came to a stop.

The strangers landed swiftly on a grassy slope.



4.

For the first time,

Ogbudu spoke.

Ugbene strained his ear,

To hear him.

When the voice was heard at last,

It came, so unlike the priest.

Muffled up,

By eerie, cryptic, unearthly pierce

His assurance to Ugbene

Was picked in syllables:

‘Hold yourself together Ugbene,

This proves your leadership.

The future of our war men,

The future of our land,

Lie in your courage today.’

At last, reasoned Ugbene,

It may be good.

For the spirit receiving them,

Had the form of an old man.

He came out from a hut

Which had not been there

As well as Ugbene could see.

Dourilly, the strangers bowed their heads.

Their present host, a hoary appearance,

Walked on nothing towards them.

His continuous approach,

Sent great dread over Ugbene.

In his hand,

Was a large bone of a strange beast.

He touched Ogbudu’s bowed head

And he rose,

Walking with him into the hut,

Ugbene trembled.

First it was this floating

Through an endless mass

Such seemingly unending floating.

Then a most inscrutable landing,

A strange appalling spirit

With an enigmatic dwelling place,

Himself able to walk on along,

Not upon any earth.

And taking Ogbudu with him,

A mere mortal,

To also walk along

Into that dwelling place.

All was to him,

Horrific, shocking, marrow scattering.



5.

There was no time wasted.

When they emerged, a division emerged,

A dichotomy so distinct.

Ogbudu had joined them,

Those he was so fond of meeting in the spirit.

He stood,

No longer a visitor

To the perilous plain

Unknown to man and mankind.

But a part of the dwelling of this plain

A host with the host hoary spirit.

His transformation was swift,

So nimble a precipitation.

He was no longer the priest,

Known to Ugbene and known to all Ete.

He was no longer the father of seven wives,

No longer the husband of three wives.

He was no doubt a spirit,

And so at home with the spirit.

‘I must welcome you my son’

The spirit’s voice was the voice of many thunders

Spoken together,

With quick flowing rivers.

Ugbene shaking with fright,

Was certain a deity was before him.

He fought to regain courage,

Remembering the words of the priest,

But courage goes,

Strength seeps away,

The valiant is made coward,

And men become women

In the presence of even the mildest of deities.

Ugbene filled with strength,

Valiant man of war,

Leader of the war men from Ete,

Was not exempt.

Through clattering teeth,

He attempted to salute the revered host,

But the spirit stopped him and thundered:

‘Yours is to listen today,

Spirits do nothing with the greetings of men,

Not in a time so grave’.

The spirit went silent, only for a while

And the voice came soon afterwards,

But only the rivers

It came without the thunders:

‘You must take note of all I will say.



6.

And the waters of the river,

Displaying here not only their sound,

Flew out of his mouth.

He vomited this river

Until it engulfed Ugbene’s supply.

And Ugbene no longer stood,

On the grassy slope

But now floated on the strange river

Casually vomited by the hoary spirit.

A liquid plain.

Up the water of the river floated,

And washed the warrior’s body vigorously.

The spirit and the priest watched.

The river voice spoke after the washing

Slowly:

‘Your presence here came from our mind

We sent the message that brought you.

You do not know where you are,

Never think you know, or that you ever will know.

You must overcome many things

To lead our children

The way they should be led.

Listen my son,

If you fail to throw the seven spirits

Who shall wrestle with you now

You shall be a dead man.

After the wrestling, and you are cooked

Your tasks will then begin.’

The spirit moved forward,

And touched Ugbene with the bone

He caught fire instantly.

A, red, noisy, painless, but devouring fire

Sprang from his feet.

Something strong again rooted him to the spot

Where he stood.

His jaws were locked,

He could not even utter a sound.

May be in the world of the spirits,

It was no ordinary burning.

Perhaps it yielded  power and strength.

For an innumerable crowd of spirits

Little dingy beings

Sprang out of the air, and clung strongly

To the burning warrior.

They were burnt away entirely

But Ugbene stood purified.

That consuming conflagration,

Devouring even spirits,

Left him unscathed.



7.

They rubbed off their nature on him,

And he knew at once,

That he was like them,

May be a spirit.

The big spirit pointed upwards

And a seven headed spirit

Began a menacing fall

From up, where he had pointed.

‘This is your first opponent onye isi agha#’

He whispered, and disappeared.

An ama# appeared,

And Ugbene saw an end to the hoary presence.

The clearing was filled

With all kinds of spirits.

And it was larger than any clearing

Ugbene may have seen on earth.

The falling spirit

Charged at him with full strength,

And the frightened man

Sidestepped to avoid the great assailant.

Either from his own skills

Or from a certain mysterious guidance,

He left a mass of human sputum

On the ground.

Only this saved him,

From the seven headed spirit,

Who landed with one foot on the  sputum

And slipped fiam,

Shattering two of his heads

On the stony earth.

He lay in groans and moans

While a third of the spirit population

Already gathered

Began to murmur away,

And retreat into holes all around the square.

This was the first spirit.

The second was worse than the first.

So many heads,

It was impossible to number them.

However,

The victory over the first,

Had given Ugbene so much courage



8.

So much, he was even ready

To wrestle down the king of the spirits.

They fought as though equally matched.

Swinging and turning themselves,

Turning and swinging themselves,

Amidst the breath-taking,

Pregnant silence of the spirits.

Almost, it was certain no one would throw.

But the spirit miss-swung,

He failed to grip Ugbene firmly

And was left, turning violently alone.

Ugbene took the good chance.

Quickly and quietly, he threw his leg

In between the legs of the swinging spirit,

And sent him crashing into the faces

Of the other spirits.

He could see Ogbudu’s form

Away from the spirit crowd

But also crowded by other seeming supportive spirits.

Ogbudu’s form nodded and smiled.

That was the second spirit.

The rest of the opponents

Were no matches for Ugbene

Who ended the fights in no time.

Ogbudu’s form was nodding and smiling

As more spirits departed.

When the seventh spirit appeared,

Ugbene was limping on two legs.

There were scratches over his body

And he could not see with one eye.

He was sure, the approaching spirit

Was coming to finish him.

But he remembered the rule:

‘You must wrestle with and defeat seven spirits.’

Moving back to get a proper view,

He was shaking kike a mere child.

This one had no head.

His neck was a mere stick.

And for a head, he had a tiny, round dirty stuff

Which was on fire.

This fire burnt continuously.

The legs were like jelly tubes

His walk was therefore not steady.

They were millipede legs, and Ugbene was shocked.



9.

He looked again,

Thinking he had given a perfunctory glance

But he was right, he had always been.

For his legs, this spirit had

Millions of millions of swimming millipedes

Clustering each other in a bloody liquid.

A major part of his trunk

Was filled with hissing spirits.

Ugbene fled from the approaching spirit.

The presumptive victor guffawed,

Maintained his surreptitious approach

While the champion was escaping for his life.

Ogbudu appeared suddenly.

He appeared enlarged, frightening, and deadly.

He blocked the fleeing warrior

Bringing his flight to a halt.

And Ugbene, shaking and stammering:

‘Ogbudu, I can die better in Ete

Not in the hands of this spirit.

At least my body will be buried in Ete.’

Ogbudu held him, he stopped his pants.

And the priest charged:

‘Go back our leader,

Destroy your last enemy

For this is the beginning of your task.’

Ugbene, was yet opening up his complaint

And Ogbudu forcefully turned him around.

The sight of the approaching spirit,

Made him attempt another break

But the strength of the old priest

Was all too much.

He spat a liquid into the warrior’s hand

And pulled out a strange twig

Hidden in between his legs.

His charge to Ugbene was stern this time:

‘Flog those legs with these leaves

Go on and slap his body with your empowered hands, go on and defeat your last enemy.’

Ugbene turned and faced his task.



10.

The assailant now looked more enraged.

Showcased all over him

Was terror, more gruesome.

‘Etedi save your child’ he muttered

And rushed to attack the spirit.

It was with a great speed,

The all-important twig

Firmly in his hands.

His life,

And the success of their endeavour

The success of Ete, all rested on the twig

It had to be safe.

Conscious of the warrior’s wiles

The spirit spat out a sharp tongue of fire

Which landed on the hand

With which Ugbene held the twig.

And unmindful of his burning hand

But fired with the passion

Of giving his best

For his land and cause

He  threw the twig to the other hand

And lashed out furiously

At the spirit, with all strength.

So fortunate was he

He got the two legs

The magic began.

The legs began to wobble

Millipede after millipede

Crawled out with an expiring half-life.

The giant spirit groaned in pains

But Ugbene, caught by a great dread

Stood rooted to a spot.

Soon, a sudden realization came

He woke with a start.

New millipedes took over

From the dying ones

And new legs were being grown.

Then Ugbene remembered his hands

And struck the spirit.

The result came in the instant

An even louder yell,

The assailant began to fall.

Ugbene hit him, repeatedly

And the more he was hit,

The more he fell

And the fainter his cries became.



11.

The last spirit fell down flat

Expired and disappeared.

The whole place turned pandamonic

It was the victor’s turn.

Ugbene was at once

Surrendered by numerous spirits.

All in one accord,

Yelling things that looked like praises.

He faces among them

He could recognize those faces

As those of Ete elders gone for a long time.

But so stupefied was he

He never knew what went on.

And the spirits began to cut him up

Rapidly, they dismembered his body.

One took his head

Others took his arms and feet

While the rest had his trunk.

Quickly, with his parts,

They disappeared into where they came from

To cook their warrior maybe.

Soon they appeared

Each with the part he took

And Ugbene was all put together once more

The rituals of the spirits ended

And he had life again.

Yet, to Ugbene all was blank.

It was not until the form of Ogbudu

Was seen in the midst of these spirits

That Ugbene became assured

They were supportive spirits.

Ogbudu the priest-spirit motioned to him

And he sat down.

Then they came, all the good spirits came

Pouring blessings

Pouring good will

Pouring good fortune to Ugbene,

To Ete.

These were all in their ranks

Warriors of Ete in days gone

But good spirits at rest now,

Blessing one of their own,

Blessing their land.



12.

And as quickly as they came

As quickly as they appeared,

They began to recede

One following the other

Muttering sounds of approbation

Into holes or hollows?

The warrior could never tell.

Then Ugbene stood

A stigmatized body,

Now joined by the priest spirit.

Now, a little bit of the film

Shielding his human nature

Which took away

All manner of earth thought from him

Gave way a little.

And Ugbene,

Gazing intently at Ogbudu

‘When will all this end Ogbudu?’

The priest spirit

Rubbed a powder on his face and smiled

The warrior looked upwards

And that film grew thick again

So thick again.



13.



The rest came so fast.

The hoary spirit, their host

Came out again.

Ugbene bowed to salute,

But he pulled him up.

‘Most valiant’ he roared,

His voice was no longer the rivers

But a strong, man like voice.

‘You have done well

Your ancestors are with you

Nothing left for you to do here

Your leader must take you away at once.

He turned to Ogbudu,

The priest spirit

Presented a small living worm to him.

He nodded, and nodded.

Then Ogbudu, facing Ugbene,

With all sternness:

‘Great warrior,’ swallow this

And Ugbene, taking the worm in his hands

Refrained from swallowing it.

Ogbudu commanded again,

And the bellicose mind of the warrior

Got the better of him.

He shelved his fears aside

And threw the little thing

Into his mouth.

It went down his throat with no effort

And he was sure he heard it burst

Right in his stomach.

A transformed man looked around,

Something definite, he knew not what

Had happened with the bursting.

And there in his presence

Yet another transformation took place.

The hoary spirit rose a little into the air

And was soon becoming a monster

In their eyes. Their time was up.

Ogbudu touched his companion,

And another floating began.

The monster was quick after them

Tearing away the air with a gruesome menace