Idylls of Love___Part 5: It's Your Weeping Face I Can't Forget


Even when you disappeared in the distant mist
Vanishing like the smoke into the air
And the dusts raised by that lorry
Settle on the leaves again
My face were still glued to the road
The beginning of my long wait
At the path leading into a pathless world

Briefly, I hope it's all but  a momentary dream
That you were still in your father's hut in the village
Waiting the same way you have always waited
For the arrival of the evening
Our friendship is that coverings that shields us from the world
When the work of the day's work is done
Alone we are left to dream
To swing in the marauding wind of the valley
To sing with twinkles in our hearts
We wander briefly into the future with glee
In the world created only in our minds

But alas, the time has come
When all these melodies must sway into silent hummings 
When destiny is deciding its own course
It does not bother asking about our opinions

Tears well up in my eyes
But I was too young understand
Why my heart bleeds this much

I tried walking home
But the strength sustaining these aching heart
Hidden within my flesh are gone
My feet are afraid of walking farther away from you too
I struggled home with a sluggish gait

When I staggered passed your hut
I saw mama (your mother) outside
Pealing from a heap of cassava
Talking warmly with a friend
And I wondered if she can't feel
The hole burrowed inside of me
The pain your departure caused me
I could not bear looking twice that way
For I see your face in hers

I hurried home
Not sure of where is home anymore
For it was you who made it home to me
And anywhere you are
Will always be home to me

For sure my sisters will mock my foolishness
And my friends will scorn this blind feelings
But I can't survive this alone
I need you always by my side
The long days of my loneliness has just begone
Yet, little do I know
That the embers of my loneliness will spark into years
And years into decades

Slightly I pray for your return
But I know your going is a wish we both had
A dream we both dreamt
A prayer our innocent heart both prayed
In the dawn of our long lives
You are the young bird flapping its wings across an hostile sky
Pushing through the cloud magnificent cities
To have education
To speak the white man's language
To be like Baba Tikolo's son
The only doctor from our village

But it's your weeping face
Your waving hands
Your nostalgic heart
And your last question
That I can never forget

And these tears still running down my eyes
Began the very first time you left


© Olatuja Oloyede


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Make sure you read the preceding parts to understand this story ok...