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IFEGI-OKU (WEEK 30) - "The Celebration" Part 1 of 3 |
WEEK 30: THE CELEBRATION, Part 1 of 3
Never in the history of Obi's people
Has a goat been paraded and then bled
Before the arrival of a first-born heir
He's being rather cheeky, whispered some
While stuffing their faces with his salted sinew
Filling their gourds with his tangy palm-wine
And gyrating to pieces to the sound of the flute
Obi sits among them smirking like a king
Number Four beside him, adorned like his queen
She averts her eyes from her sister co-wives
Who nail her with glances as they tend to guests
Mingling like servants enslaved from a war
Obi's yard teems with the preening neighbors
Dressed to the nines as though at a Naming
Obi's older daughters he banished indoors
Away from the eyes of potential suitors
The day dazzles bright, no hint of a shadow
As if The Gods themselves are preening as well
And Obi spared little by way of expenses
This celebration would be spoken of for years
He hired Sango, the Merry Music Makers
A band so delicious, they're booked for life
Some have even said, they're members of heaven
Coming down at times to play for mortal men
The goat was not alone to be beheaded
So too eleven she-goats, hens and sheeps
Snakes and snails, tortoises and birds
All delicacies that drive the village wild
Smoke from the hearth belched seven days
As the wives huffed and puffed to get the meal set
Wives from all over had been conscripted
Though His Supreme was forbidden in the smoke
Obi's younger girls were sent far and wide
With news of the party – come one, come all!
A special celebration for the coming of his heirs
As well as occasion to announce His Supreme
Ifegi-oku sits subdued off to the sides
The adrenaline rush having been spent
Little One is beside her just as consumed
By the myriad of colors swimming in their sight
(to be continued)
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