Dying Twice Poem by Tony Adah

He died at noon
With a great acumen
At raising earth into mounds
Where seed yams lived,
Died and resurrected.
He grunted like a pig
While making them
He collapsed
And never woke up again.

The farm folks roared
Trees stood still
Every one panicked with death
On their heels,
The news like lightning moved
Village folks wept and mourned
Ada died
And rose again
They called him ghost
My brother confessed he saw him
Away from the shroud
Where he laid still
Without a rib raised on the cage.

For fear
We swarmed out of the house to pee
We saw the plantain trees
And feared that he was in the lot
We ran back
Crammed ourselves at the door
Everyone all went in at a time
I was stranded at the door
Ada died once
Was lying in state
Waiting for the grave.