Homage To Wole Soyinka Poem by Hannington Mumo

(Upon his declaration of interest in Nigeria’s presidency)

Great guru of letters, who has so much this journey walked,
Here comes your literary offspring paying a tribute to an honored ancestor,
With trembling lips and a heart sick with reverence;
In his hands bearing a pole and a rafter,
Ready to repair the eternal mansions of fiction.

Blessings of the budding I here bestow
To an ace who in solitude sought a noble path
That not many mortals may choose on earth.
You dried the dew for little and frail walkers
Who would after you tread scores of decades after.


Lost is the time when men of sense
Stood aloof and let megalomaniacs tear thrones apart;
A time has come for pundits of logic and learning
To take the mantle and a sense of sanity impart.


As you jostle for the lofty seat with titans of greed,
Be of good cheer for the whole blessing you’ve received;
The bearers of schooling and sense with you do stand
And the favors of the sky on you do sit.