A Song For Pius | Ifeanyichukwu Onwughalu

Tell us,
How do we crack the riddle
Dropped from the sky?
How do we hold the tears
Tossing endlessly
Like thousand rosaries
Of rain on heat?

Tell us,
How do we pile up the cries
Of kernel from same palm that was you
That now weep we must weep
And mourn we must mourn?

Tell us,
How do we tell the story
Of twinship padded in sorrow
Closely knit by blood:
Of same womb
Of same learning
Of same fame
To bow out
At the season of sleep?

Tell us,
Have you sojourned
To complete the logic
Of tripartite unity:
Of Christopher, Lawrence and blessed Pius
Like Father, Son and Holy Spirit...
Tell us, have you?

Poet's note: This was a tribute I wrote back in year 2000 for my late uncle, Dr. Pius Okigbo, elder brother to the late renowned poet Christopher Okigbo. He was a great economic genius and a man of numerous accomplishments at the local, national and international levels. Was pleased to find this poem in a collection of tributes on his extraordinary life. I had lost the original manuscript and it was a delight to see this and thought it worthy to share it here and keep it permanently safe!