The Man in Maribyrnong.
He has thought as a little child;
He made a fool of himself and now
his kudos is over and gone.
' Sir', can you present your evidence?
'Of course', 'I was there when he admitted
writing the poems'.
Nervous tension. Pressurised babble.
Illuminating fairy tales,
Malicious fables. Gibberish.
'Did you write the minutes of the meetings'? . . . E-r-m..
'Did you?'
E-r-m . . .. . .. . . no. No Bill did.
'Thank you sir, I think we should leave it there'.
Unease-
The man in Maribyrnong rashly shivered.
Having no well-founded answers, he couldn't
stop gibbering.
Besides, he did make a fool of himself.
Knows it all but nothing'
This counsel that I offer you in the fullness of time:
with all my pieces of advice to you,
You still departed stubbornly and blindly
disdaining my well-founded fear.
'Knows it all but nothing'
Now you're back with tears,
Tears for an appalling burden
And tears from a broken heart that can never be healed again.
Again my friend,
"A stitch in time saves nine'.
" Rain can wash away foot prints but
can never wash away evil in man's heart".
"Peacocks are treasure but can never
be burnt sacrifice to the god";
"Lions are brave but cannot be trusted".
In proverbs I spoke to you, You realized it not,
I offered them, yet you failed to accept.
And now you're in tears, regretting your deeds.
Hold your tears my friend and be of good courage. Learn to
"Make hay while the sun shines".
Grudges to settle.
The plots have been uncovered,
I have come to realize that you're not truly
who you said you are.
How on earth could you remain my
friend while you congregate with those
whose desires are to bring me down.
Like a parasite,
You bite and suck dry my blood
and when I fall sick, you clothe yourself
with sackcloth, sympathising with me.
In the company of my foes you abide
and banquet and merriment.
You hypocrite!
You and I have some grudge to settle.
Until we settle those grudges,
We will continue to remain apart.
Copyright ?2004? Kingsley Chidi Okafor
