Homecall
HOMECALL
Echezona, she calls me home
Remember the grounds upon which you suckled
Remember the voice that weaved your dreams
Remember the warmth that spun your wake
I am the mirror of your future
And I am the shadow of your past
Echezona, she calls me home
I know that back upon which I bestrode
I revere the arms that shook with the melancholy of the uncertain
And yes! I know the voice that hummed the melody of my dreams
I sniff the fragrance of your smell
It is smoke and camwood and ash
It is also the sweat of decades of tilling
Echezona, she calls me home
She calls me to the root where my cord is buried
See I set out on a homeward bound journey
I carry my vagrant feet, weary with years of turbulence
I drag myself to that place
Where the flames of my fathers lie smouldering
I return; I walk the paths I learnt to live
Echezona, she calls me home
See, the rain of fortune falls right here
Upon that roof your searching eyes failed to meet
Your strength lies beneath those skies
Upon that soil you fought your first fight
The laughter of the sun is generous
It brightens the threshold that housed your naked years
Echezona, she calls me home
Forget not the songs of your warrior ancestors
Forget not the dance of victory that thumped the soil you thread
I am drawn to this homestead; this land of many tears and laughter
I return to dance the dance of the great
I return, a sojourner bearing songs that sprout upon my soil
Copyright © Muna Chuma-Udeh | Year Posted 2018
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