Welcome to my blog, to my world, to the fissure for the turmoil within, my inner rumbling; to my thoughts as I think them, my world as I view it. Come flow with me, as I start with my life's philosophy, warapped in the following poem.
I got the title of the poem, and of my blog of course, from what I may roughly translate as my appelation name. It is normal for a person from my part of the world to be given an appelation name, with which the person is hailed, usually to show solidarity or compliment. I got mine from my grandmother, Nne Odauzo, Odauzo being her own appelation name. A little story surrounds the name. When she came for my omugwo, she once mistakenly gave me spirit to take, thinking it was some drug. The little me shouted in reaction to the biting pain I felt on my tongue and I was rushed to the hospital. My poor granny cried all day, grieving that if I had passed on by her inexperince in the white man's ways, then the fart she passed in faraway Benin would have followd her to Oko, my village. She imagined that she wo uld have been accused of witchcraft.
Incidentally, we grew so fond of each other as I grew up. The story has it that I am an incarnate of her late husband, my grandfather. So when I approached her and asked her to give me an appelation name, so I could show off like my peers did (and still do of course), she told me that if I were not alive, that we would not be sharing the companionship we shared. She called me USOBUNANDU, and I summarise this wisdom in this poem, one of my favourites
Give me now that I'm sad a smile
That light my face may see
Reserve it not for my burial
The need may then not be
Help me now my body and soul
To each other cling still
For when they are separated
I need no more the aid
Then I can no longer tell you
Thank you, may God bless you
Not when maggots on me feed well
My soul has bid farewell
It is while we still are alive
That we our love can share
Deny not your brother your love
You'll some day need the care
Welcome to my blog...
