Remembering Grandma Poem by Padmore Enyonam Agbemabiese

I miss those blessed walks
down the dusty road with Grandma
to the grazing fields of Hlorve
where we’ll tether the sheep
beneath the legba-trees

sometimes I would twirl
my grandmother’s cloth
round my loins and sing songs
from her favorite nyayito rhythms
at times I paddle the sheep slightly
to make them run round the bend
and Grandma would look me
with her stern eyes

at times I’ll tease the ducks and the chickens
on our village lanes with a kernel of corn
falling from my hands and the ducks
and the chickens would walk by me
until I frightened them to jump into puddles
splashing their immaculate feathery coats in the ponds

I miss those blessed days
when she’ll spin me around
sing a song that would never, ever end
cuddle me ‘til I fell asleep
and make me know I was loved

often in my sleep my face would brighten
and on waking I yearn to fall asleep again
I never dreamed she would be gone from me
and if I had known her sun would set so soon
I would have stolen one final glance of her

these days I’ve listened outside her door
to hear if she is still there to sing a song
that would never, ever end
a song to make me fall asleep
and make me know I was loved

I remember those loving days
when Grandma smiled and hugged me
to give me comfort from loss of my Dad
and carry my soul away from human laughs
that tantalized my spirit like a knife thrust
to carve the soul and burst my wings into flames

those days, she dressed the scars
that my soul carried when fiery skies raped my sleep
and tickled my water's belly to divide my world
between hope and promises broken with deceit
I miss her gentle touch that soothed my wounds
and taught me to walk and grow through the years

her stories of the past and her songs
about a future so bright floated to harmonize
with the chirping, the twittering and the buzzing
of the sacred forest where the trees danced motionlessly
till the sun sank behind our mud dwellings
just to say, another day too was done
I miss those wonderful walks