Take Me Back To Alode By Jonah Okpabi

The land is soaked with blood The sand is soaked with tears Oh How many barrels of blood must be spilled to know that so many souls are gone? How many basins of tears does it take to have more than enough tears? . I am the voice of the little child crying in the wilderness I want to caress the flowers that spring out of the ground of my homeland I want to watch the ripples when rain falls I want to play with my mates on the sand along Chu Ngoke street I want to sit at home and watch my parents returning from a bountiful yam harvest I want to stand at the playground and watch the traditional wrestling I want to hear the sounds of Egelege and Egoni talking drums reminding me of yesterday and a great future ahead I want to chase away goats from eating the maize in my mother's garden I want to open my mother's pot and pick a meat out of the soup I want to see my homeland Sweet little home of ours Please take me back to Alode Please take me back to Alode . I am the voice of a man Whose hope lies in shackles Whose homeland lies in broken images A town deserted and forgotten I am tired of being a stranger in another man's land I am tired of begging for crumbs When my barn is filled with yam Mudskippers can still be found in our swamps Please take me back to Alode I don't want to die in another man's land I want to die in Alode, somewhere in Eleme I want to be buried near the grave of my father and see my ancestors usher me home with a shinning crown Take me back home Take me back home . Take me back to Alode Let me see the beautiful women that toss about the streets Let me admire their buttocks Let me stare at their breasts, those two round objects protruding out of their clothes, breasts that could make me feel like a child again Let me kiss Nyime Owa Eleme, that beautiful lady of my dream Let me lay her down on my bedside and make life worthwhile I want to go back home and see the sunshine with it's illuminous rays and the tender droplets of the rain Oh Please take me back to Alode Please take me back to Alode . Take me back to Alode Let me touch your borders From Alesa to Ogale From Echieta to Onne and From Ebubu to the Onu Nmu where they say the hands cannot reach I want to touch the land of Alode I want to touch the Eleme soil I want to touch the soft green grasses of home .......