Dear friends,
We shall all live to mature old age, then we'll die
peacefully in our sleep and have a joyful funeral, where men and women will
dance and thank God for mature old age, in Jesus' name I pray. We shall
survive.
Your comments are very welcome please.
Please say Amen, read and enjoy the short piece below and
then go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Forest-Dames/271951229568683?fref=ts and like it, if you
have not already. Cheers all!
"She danced a little more and signalled the women to
stop. They obeyed her and she directed them to form a big circle. They did. Now
she got into the centre of the circle and began to intone with a loud voice:
“Great women of our land..!”
“Oh yeah!” replied the women.
“We are gathered here today to mourn our illustrious father,
grandfather, brother and uncle, our dear Pa Zurike Zeala, the strong man of his
time.”
“Y-e-a-h! Hailed the women
“The kind man of his time!”
“Y-e-a-h!
“The good man of his time!”
“Y-e-a-h!”
“Zeala was the last of the good men.”
The leader burst into another song, figuratively explaining
that the death of Pa Zurike meant that good men were exhausted in the world.
Nde nma agwula n’uwa
Nde nma agwula
Nde nma agwula n’uwa
Nde nma agwula
Ebe nwanne anyi rahuru n’ onwu
Nde nma agwula
Ebe nwanne anyi rahuru n’igbe
Nde nma agwuchana kpam kpam
The women chorused and fresh dancing began, this time in a
circle. As they moved round, every woman danced in her own beautiful style,
some making it slightly coquettish, all in a tribute to an old man who passed
on peacefully. The dance reached its peak synchronising with the tempo of the
drumming which was handled by the women themselves. One of the women was so enthralled
that she introduced another song. But she did that by asking the women what
kind of wealth was better – wealth in paradise or wealth on earth. Before they
could give an answer, she burst into another very danceable funeral song:
Ogaranya n’eluigwe eh
Ogaranya n’ eluwa eh
Onye ga agwa m nke ka nma?
Ogaranya n’eluigwe ka nma
They danced gracefully to the tune and rhythm of this song,
gesticulating and mentioning individual names and nick names, asking them which
kind of wealth was better. All responded, acknowledging that wealth in paradise
was preferable."
Culled from "The Forest Dames" true Life Biafran
experience.
Available at Silverbird Galleria bookshop, Abuja;
Quintessence, Falomo Shopping Complex, Awolowo road Ikoyi,
Lagos and Debonair bookstores, Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo Yaba, Lagos. Also at
Booksellers shops (opposite Biobak), Garki 2, Abuja; and Pen and pages, Wuse 2
Abuja. Also at amazon.com/theforestdames, Barnes and Noble, AuthorHouse and
other online marketers
Amen O!
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