Ikwen Poem by Patrick Utitufon

Ikwen,
My hometown
I have long departed your presence
I have long abandoned your ways
in selfish pursuit of extrinsic finesse
I have forsaken your communal call
severing the bond of my ancestral heritage
for alien proclivities

Ikwen,
My native land
I have left you for so long
I have left you for intricate thrills of alien shores
in fruitless search of greener pastures
flourishing abundantly in the bosom
of your endowed suburbs left unharnessed

Today, I journey back to my roots, to my kindred, to you
Cradle of my birth

I return to you from my accustomed toil-a penitent prodigal
kneeling at your fatherly feet
I return to you a repentant renegade-a humbled hermit
unworthy of your fatherly repose
which I long deserted for exotic tides

I return to rest beneath the refreshing shadows
of your towering trees
to feel the healing beams of your full moons
to drink from your stable cleansing waters
to breathe fresh air of your evergreen vegetation
I return to your open arms craving your warm rural embrace

I come to you naked-a perfidious son undeserving
of your forgiveness, of your sheltering welcome

But,
I return a wiser man more experienced from my vast sojournings
I return to you fully armoured ready to explore your untapped virgin endowments,
lodging in the depths of your vast plains,
buried beneath your steady brooks, and
in the bloom of your harvest fields

I return to fulfil the surging dreams of your children
and of your children's children,
to lay solid foundation for those yet unborn-
to uphold your communal call-the heritage of my birth

Today, I journey back to my roots, to my kindred, to you
Cradle of my birth