To Death, With Love Poem by Lucy Azubuike

What do we do without you?

You, a gift to mankind

Yes,
Without you, the trend of man would be stagnant
You, the scavenger of mankind

Without you, the likes of Adolf Hitler would still roam the earth with their sadistic claws

You!
The only one who hears the cries of the aged who are in desperate need a deserving rest

You!
The only friend of those, whose life on earth is filled with unquenchable despair,
Those who choose to force you upon themselves with their ropes1

Death, upon your menace, man tries to be human

Death, I salute!

Now, death,
As lousy as you are
As blind as you are
As incompetent as you are
You strike quickly, uninvited
Why take lives of great men and women whose lives have great impact on mankind

Can you replace?
I don’t think so

Why do you like sudden as a nickname
Be competent!
Let the great, live: I beseech thee
Enact thy scavenging work on the sadists and the irrelevant
Visit at the right time.
MY PEOPLE SAY: “e too dike na nke omere; o mee ozo”2


1 Rope in this context is a symbol of suicide

2 An Igbo adage that translates to 'when a gallant is praised, he or she
is encouraged to repeats the good deed'

2009