WEEK 35: ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR, Part 2 of 4

Who, with arms outstretched, awaits her son
Held clean in the arms of an aiding mid-wife
Who approaches carefully to deposit the child
When lo and behold! she drops the little boy

He lands head first as he hits the ground
A shrill is expected from the mishandled lad
Not a sound does he make as he lies there prone
Despite her leg, Number Four acts first

She jumps up naked from blood-soaked mats
Holds the boy against her milk-laden breasts
The little boy who still has not made a cry
Or make one move to show dead or live

The guilty mid-wife does not stick around
She lifts her skirt and gets the hell out
As Obi recovers from profound shock
When wife and mid-wives begin to wail

Keeping watch on her three little brothers
Who lie asleep on their mother's mat
Ifegi-oku dozes in the midst of them
When the piercing wails shatter her dreams

She rushes to the door to take a peek
Sees the fleeing mid-wife scaling the fence
In the blink of an eye the woman is gone
Then out rushes Obi looking around

Seeing Ifegi-oku, he pelts her with queries
"Did you see a woman rush by here?
Which way did she go, young Amaka?
Speak quickly, girl, for her trail grows cold!"

"I did see her, father – she flew by this way.
And sailed over there, I swear she was winged!"
Obi makes chase in the direction she points
Ifegi-oku follows when Obi looks back

"Be still, Amaka! Move not from yon door!
To you did I entrust the watch of my sons.
Guard them closely, tonight more than ever.
This night smells bitter, the air feels foul!"

With that, he disappears into circling dark
Leaving Ifegi-oku listening to the wails in the yard
Sounds so pitiful they usher out the others
Soon Obi's yard is teeming with neighbors

Who move as one towards his hut
To find the reason behind the noise
Although, as for that, the answer is clear
The wails having turned to the Song of the Dying

(to be continued)