KALADIN

KALADIN

I.
He came to my haven like a ghost
Before the departure of the night,
To sing the song of his mortality
That I may help him in my skillful prime
To poem the secret of his life;
Why he lost his precious light,
And the energy in his laughter?
Why fire now dwells on his lips?—
He said his soul is ready for eternity,
Why? I dutifully ask him,
In my quest to solve his riddles.
And like a sultry bard, he answered;
From my heart flows an endless stream,
Where the stones of sorrows are buried.
And from this same heart grows a tree
Where the daughters of dream
Come in their motherly tenderness
To sing of the fire of my youthful days,
And the quest that drove my actions.
I was touched by the song he sings;
Deep and utterly revealing.
So I asked like every wise poet,
Why not restore the love of thy youth?
Why not pray to the Almighty,
To give you to drink,
From the cup of eternal life,
Filled with the sweet elixir of life?
He laughed O! How he laughed!
He laughed till the roofs trembled,
And I was afraid,
Suddenly, He began his tale,
And my humble hand began
To weave a poem of life:
He was born on the eve of spring,
He crawled, stammered, then walked,
He was trained in school
To perfect the art of  law.
And he saw paths of wealth,
Lined with golds and shining stones;
The woman were his alone
And he was their keeper.
Then the war came,
With its deadly projectiles,
And the silence of the dead.
At the end, everything was lost;
He remembered the smile of his only wife
As she danced to the music of Africa.
He rembered the delight of his sons
As they drink the sweet wine of the yorubas.
He remembered the beauty of his daughters
As they kneel and sway,
When they pray to the messiah.
But in all this,
A song continue to beat in my heart,
He shakily uttered.
Full of curiosity I asked;
What song did the stars
And the spirit of the galaxies
Give to you for your loss?
He looked at me, tears in eyes and said,
A song of strength and might
That I might find a man of prime
To write me a poem of life,
Before my spirit rise into the sky
To the realms of stars and light.
And like a man fulfilled,
He sighed, swayed and died.

©Okunola Peace.