Letter To Mama

*LETTER TO MAMA* Iye omo to r'ewa Iya ni iya mi owon I know you wonder if your prayers don't ascend to heavens You keep asking if the promises won't come true You're beginning to doubt the prophesies of the gods The assurances seem like parody You crave for me a life full of melodies You dreamt of days it would be your time for testimonies All these I know because you're ever alive in my memory The promise to build a beautiful house My vow to take you across the shores You held my hand while we walked at sunrise I promised the sun would never set on you under the branches Now the sun is about to retire to its nest And I'm yet to return from my sojourn Every night I lay my head in bed I think of the promises unkept Mama I know the winter is here and you need more than mere wrapper The wind from the North washing to the East is coming And your feet is still bare and your hair with no gear I thought about your eyes getting red when the dust blows across with no respect I wish I can plead with the gods to spare the trees from shedding their leaves I'm afraid where you'll seek shelter in next summer While I till the soil from dawn to dusk in the forsaken land The birds bring your morning prayers to me The chirping sparrows tell me all your wishes I know each line was made with hope despite the warm tears rolling your wrinkled cheek The gods are busy shipping wealth to the far North The priests still never cease to lay their sacrifices on the altar With hope they chant for the gods to visit the West While I was twenty I promised to give you grandchildren to sit round your table Now I see how close I'm to forty so I'm thinking of making just two I know this gives little comfort since I never brought home a woman I'm sorry I'm just a son that hasn't brought you joy I once hunted a crab and got bitten by a viper Mama I'm scared to hunt again as every hole seems like a nest of snake I know I missed some awesome souls in my days of kiss and run The pain of the tears I once caused you still stings like a viper's venom Beautiful and dutiful mama I have just one more promise for you Believe me this time as this I make with my life on it I shall be home before the death of the sun Before the heat of the downtown roasts my feet I shall return to my home like the prodigal son I don't mind returning in shredded shirts or torn skin Maybe the black eye would tell you how much I toiled in the woods I'll return before the trees shed their leaves I will make thatched shades from the dry leaves If it takes half my age it is worth the price of a failed promise Dear mama next winter isn't getting you frozen I swear on my fading honour The kids would come soon I hope I hope you still keep clean those colourful robes Soon I hope to bring the bride home She would be the one to colour my life like the roses I have written her series of prose I can't promise she would be an angel but I hope she's the right breed for the home Just a little while more you shall be a grandma I may not return with a Royce but a ride of my choice Once more on the street it shall be all joy of your voice Just a little time the gods would bring the wealth to the West We have paid our dues and the gods see the sweat Just a little patience more the clouds would be dragged off the sun And with drums rolled out on the street Your lost son shall return in the glamour of heroic glory Mama just a little time more *CONCEPTUAL FM ???*