Farewell Bishop Awa Pius Poem by MICHAEL MBUWIR

From Jules peters, Pius thou true received,
A task thou would never have sure perceived;
To lead the mighty diocese forward,
For no gain but a heavenly reward.

Duty bound thou safeguarded jealously,
The barque that to thee had fallen slowly;
As thou gradually as coadjutor,
Became the full steerer and the pastor.

Many a man has shunned this heavy task,
For to wear the cap thou must daily bask;
Thyself in the rays from the goodly Lord,
For this surely the good lord will thee laud.


Bravely thou the good Lord's barque really steered,
Though the sharks at times the waters had stirred;
And like to everyman the odds arose,
Only to thy wits and wisdom arouse.

Courage thou really bought as a shepherd,
From the divine master and chief shepherd;
With this thou could firmly grip and command,
With the word as if with a magic wand.


From the lowly son of a catechist,
thou grew to become a chief catechist;
Teaching all from the lovely Buea hills,
To furthest Manyu and noth' could thee still.


As a faithful steward in the Lord's yard,
The vintage thou showed forth from the vineyard;
this had been thy dream and thou aspired,
To the Lord serve until thou retired.



Steadily the diocese really grew,
In numbers and the ministering crew;
Giving rise to Mamfe as a new born,
Like Bamenda which ere long had been born.

Fallen a hero has and we here grieve,
His footprints on the sands of time are engraved;
And he departs from this earthly abode,
To with the resting ancestors abide.

Farewell father and lovely ancestor,
Whom we knew and fondly called the ‘Panto';
Farewell to a blissful resting heaven,
For there's the gleeful angelic haven.