Mama, I Still Think of You

You know, Mama

We kind of thought

You will live forever

Even though old, bent and a mere shadow

Of the woman you were, yet still indomitable,

Your fragile frame packed so much substance

So much vibrant life.

Mama, every waking day, I think of you because

So much of you was simply amazing

So much of you was so solid

So much of you so endearing

So much of you so reassuring

So much of you still enduring

You battled so hardily, so bravely

To overcome so many obstacles

We thought you were the rock of our times

That forever, you will remain

                                                a keeper of dreams,

                                                a tenderer of our common garden

                                                a nurturer of our new offspring

Now, your kind presence is to be felt everywhere

The thought of you is in every breath we draw

 And now all know that you are a saint we know you are

Because that about you which I knew and felt and wrote about

That which is the very same essence of you that

                              The Bishop saw and knew

                              The priests felt and testified

                               The neighbors sampled and confessed

It is the haloed aura of you that friends keep speaking about

                 For to all you were compassionate

                  To all you were so very wise and just

                   To all you were so grandly giving

                    To all you were prodigally consoling

Your life, sweet Mama, was layered like the onion

Each layer tells a different story

Each phase marks a different phase

You near-century was prodigiously and richly endowed

Each decade reads like a different book of history.

To us your offspring you are so very precious

To each you gave your all with yet more to give

Such that each tells a different, special tale of your love

Your talent was to make each feel so very specially loved

Each of our faults you knew and yet, you still loved us

So, so very fair-minded, you always spoke the truth of things

Our memories of you, mother dearest, make of your life

                                         a varied, multi-colored quilt of love

Our Mother’s love, as nearly pure as our Maker’s perfect love

You were humble too, for you begged pardon for all your faults

Bessie Chiege Iwuji Okeke, intercede with the Lord for your family

To know how to be penitent, honest, humble and lovingly peaceful.

Rose Ure Mezu

December 2008 – January 12, 2009.