Idylls of Love ___Part 7: (I Called You at the River but You Did Not Answer)

Idylls of Love ___Part 7: (Called You at the River but You Did Not Answer)

That day you left
Night crawled slowly out of its cave
Casting its wings of darkness on the world
Invoking the wickedness enshrined in humanity
But the elegance of the full moon
Gracing the glades of heaven
Brought life and light to us
And I wondered if that same moon
Was a guild to your feet
Heralding you into that distant realm
As you find your way in the labyrinth of time

As I lay quietly on my mat
The noise of gay children knocked at my door
The fantasies of childhood parried through my window
Bidding me to join in the evening dance
I know by now
They will cluster around the feet of the elders
To hear the tales of how the world began
The markers of our own identity
The mystery behind the formation of our race
The legendary of the bygone days
The pride and the taboos of our people
Why the tortoise had a broken back

Like mama once told me
Never stay by the road when the cloud gathers
Never eat at the doorway
A pregnant woman should not visit the stream under a hot sun
Because the denizens of yonder realm roam the universe at noon
This is the wisdom that the night brings to us

But that night when you left for the city
The world suddenly become a strange place
Even the company of others frightens me
The earth is unappealing without you

Yam tasted bitter in my mouth
This is not just loneliness
It is a funeral in my heart
Mourning your absence
And for some weird reasons
I wondered if you were save
If the city cast roses around your feet
Welcoming you with open arms
If you will one day return home
I silently prayed for you for that is all I can

I was awake when the noise of the children died from the street
When each lamp and foot find its way back home
When neighbours greeted goodnight
When only the shrieking of weird birds
the howling of wild dogs
The noise of crickets
And the songs of frogs
Are the only intruders of a blissful time
Piercing the silence of the night
When mama placed a bar between the two irons fastened behind our door
The very last act of everyday
A symbol that the day is done

I didn't move or shake
I just lay in silence with a heavy heart flooded with too many thoughts
A heart bruised with several imaginations

Then suddenly, I found myself
Like a stray ghost
Wandering in strange forest
Searching through the layers of dark trees

Then I saw you walking down the path that leads to the stream
With a determined gait
Like a wayfarer on a journey of no return

I called you but you didn't answer
You didn't even turn to see who knows your name in the darkness
I hurried after you
But you vanished into thin air
Yet I followed your trail towards the great river
For that where the aura of your presence bids me

At the great river
You were already at the other side
Still walking farther and farther from home
Pressing into the heart of the unknown
The gloom of a starless sky will not frighten you
The death hidden in the wood will not discourage you

The little smiling moon of the night
Tells me of your fading presence
I knew it was you walking away
Amanda it was you walking through this darkness
The beads around your waist betrays you
Your carriage reveals who you are

© Olatuja Oloyede

To be Continued Tomorrow

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