Mr. Eko Xango's Bitter End - Pardon Me by Ismael Hurreh

pardon me father if I am a disappointment to what you expect of me

pardon me father



if I cannot slaughter other tribesmen if I do not say my prayers in the morning if I turn my back  on some of your advice


 

because father

although your blood runs in my veins although I too have been a nomad although I’ve slept under roofless huts



eyeing the moon

and raising my hands to God



and envying His might

time has unfolded many strange sheets



and spread them between us

time has uprooted me



time has transplanted me to grounds



where prayer is of no use,




and mother pardon me for digging your bones out (your bones that were buried here)



pardon me

if I had forgotten that you were buried here.



In: Poems of Black Africa. Edited by Wole Soyinka. Oxford, 1975, pp. 335-336 .