Memories Of A Wonderful Brother Poem by Adebayo Akande Smartfingers

Cursed be that day
Yea, woe betide that gloomy day
When the ram-rod straight, oven-hot carbide missile
Targeted no-one but you
And demanded from you your legs
“I-kun-le abi-ya-mo oooo”………

Some say ‘private’ is beta
Some, government or whatever
Many zeros of naira was spent
But…in the end, water surpassed our garri;
Futility reared a bald head at the docs
In spite of their ‘professional’ pledges, you became legless
To walk on wheels, not of automobiles’

How I cried
When the news caught me in the boarding school
Wastefully I bathed in hot tears like rain water
And I wept my black eyes out of its socket
Even, the junky dishes I relished, galled my throat as a bile
When other dormitory-mates slept peacefully
Me too slept, but in sheer agony of unspeakable pains
Flashes upon flashes invaded my sleep and
Nightmares stole my rest and my all

But, how come?
How come a flawless, honourable persona like you
traverse earth from the loin of a woeful father
Who was engaging in nuptial madness
When his very kid groans on a sick bed?
Skullduggery negligence of responsibility
I would say.
Not even a kobo dropped from his meager pocket
Daddy paid, it all.

Bro. Seun, you are so faraway now
How many miles, I cease to know
But I heard you dwell in Oluyole
The big heart of Ibadan city
Heed me, bro. Seun
You don’t live there
In my heart is where you live

Those snow-white teeth in your uneven dentition
The calm smiles that radiated from your innocent visage
The funny gait your once-straight leg commanded
All reminds me of how much i’ve missed you

May the fate that made our acquaintance
And the destiny that wrote our life’s decree
Write yours for good, and mine for no evil
When the storms of life blows you eastward
Or myself, Hitherward
Yet again, shall I see you, and
Embrace you..
Call you ‘Elume-poly’
The moniker I ‘christened’ you
Buy you chili-peppered asun
Like you used to do me at Itafaji
And plead you a favour…
Never to leave again
Grant me the honour to share in your pain
Like I did in your bliss and folly