You - O'tega Oghenechovwen

'You'
- For a brother, James Ojiyovwi Omotor
On the "Caucasian" of his birthday!

You,
With your stern but comrade eyes
You looked up
-Up, up, up the Ebelebo tree!
And that little drenched bird far away from home
- that little drenched bird which hung up there:
Shivering, hungry, quiet and alone
Made you think of me, far away at my duty post in Makurdi
Then playfully,
You nudged your skull
Left and right
At your thoughts of my comic misguidedness [on the brink of casual stupidity]
Which always looked for an opening to leak out [big time]
And you laughed, a funny laughter!
And then,
You decided to give succour to that bird
By reaching out to it
With grains from your hospitality!
Today,
I saw that bird, here in Nasarawa,
Glistening with energies from your birthday
And, You, my friend I thank you for that!

---

O'tega Oghenechovwen (20th century) Nigeria
Source: Best Poems