Dr Fixit (261 - 270)

261

my friendship with other kids and the trust 

grandma had of me would wear rust 

if suddenly I was found to be loose 

of tongue. 'But what exactly is the truth?'

I secretly wondered. Why were all the tales

not in alignment, weighing on same scales 

all the arguments? In Antburg,

there was big and small sins. If a bug

bit you, you were free to hit that bug

real hard. But if someone stole from your hut,


262

which was a big sin, and wouldn't own up,

you took such a person to face the gods

and immediately the consequences would be known

though not all the times. Some ants had grown,

it was speculated, wings and could fly quite high 

to evade justice. And though hard the clan did try

to curtail these tales, they were gaining ground 

and prompted some their feet to pound

to embrace the new way. The tale was rife 

that some fellows could robustly bribe 


263

the gods and taken to the shrine,

they would escape harm as no grime

on them would be found though sordid,

the folks knew, from heads to feet.

I did like the images we saw in the big book

but if the fine streets, great-looking food

and big homes didn't have my grandma around,

I didn't need them. You know why? The ground

with poor soil was fertile enough with her presence;

the speech-impaired had eloquence 


264

if grandma was their fan. But the young teacher 

said something that stuck. He didn't utter:

confess to me; he said: 'Be truthful 

to yourself or else,' we were all mirthful 

hearing this - 'like the bush baby and monkey 

would be your tale. Yes, the bush baby 

was okay eating and playing in the night 

but he'd felt night wasn't cool as leaping in the sunlight.

That's exactly what some of us think:

that if we don't steal, fornicate, smoke and drink


265

'that we're missing a lot of fun.

The fateful day came with the sun

up and beaming. Monkey emerged from 

his hideout and made a call like a horn

being blown announcing to nocturnal animals 

that day is sweeter than night. More calls

he made, some like chirp, some like jabber.

He  whammed on trees, making the dry leaves scatter 

and the branches to creak. He nearly,

in his excitement, collided with bush baby


266

'who'd been crouching on a bough watching 

all this while Mr Monkey hurtling 

himself from tree to tree. How the fellow

enjoyed himself, bush baby envied. "Hello,"

Mr Monkey said, "why are you still here

when the night has gone?" Yes, he did fear 

if bush baby had lost his way or

if something more serious did occur.

"I was waiting for you," bush baby said 

without mincing words. Frankly, he bared


267

'his mind to monkey. "I'm fed up, my brother,

living this straitjacket life in the shutters 

of night. I want to join you and have great fun

in the day." Monkey clapped his hands. "You're on

the excellent path, man," he said, then slapped 

bush baby's back. "I know you're all trapped 

living life like that in the dark. This is new age,

man, and we all must stride on the new stage.

Follow me." Bush baby excitedly went after 

his friend. Who followed blindly would suffer.


268

'Monkey brought bush baby to the tip

of a very tall tree where if any had slipped 

down to the ground, it would've been 

the end of their adventure. Like a film

he let bush baby see all that he'd been missing -

the vast rivers, valleys and even the kitchen 

in a  human cabin. Bush baby's eyes 

popped out. "You look surprised,"

Monkey said. "But you'd not only see but touch 

everything you see and desire and we must rush 


269

'to them before the sun goes down.'

Bush baby nodded and tapped his crown.

He seemed to say: so all these sights 

I had been missing to see in the night?

In fact, he had resolved there and then 

he'd not return to his dear folks again 

but go live with monkey in his den.

There was this pleasant tingling in his brain

(Of course, Mr Bush Baby I mean)

when with the flavour of a fruit monkey stained


270

'his mouth and he knew that wasn't banana 

so he asked: "What fruit is this?" "Tralala,"

monkey laughed, "you'd find out right on the farm."

Well, straight to the farm he whammed 

through the trees and bush baby streaked 

after him to find out if the fruit was a fig

or apple as he'd one day eloquently speak 

before his folks of his adventure as he'd seek

their validation to make them up to date

and to know that night life isn't their fate.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr Fixit (011 - 020)

Image
011 Who strayed to the forest on Ahdet, the rest day, had themselves to blame as they were flown away by the gods who prowled every forest track, the brook and river on that day. They were back after sacrifices by the medicine man, ahbeah hebuck, were offered to appease the land and its custodians. The folks of the generation of my grandma revered nature and its regulation they observed. In school, I was taught a week had seven days in it, six for work and the meek   012 gathered together and worshipped a deity with a big heart who’d overlook their impiety. Unlike grandma’s gods who’d abduct anyone immediately they’d strayed from the norm, this deity was full of grace and suffused his followers with it – they took it or refused. School would teach one thing, home another provide: my young mind bestrode the divide. At home, I heard of uhwa hetierba, reincarnation. In school, it was, judgment, paradise and perdition. 013 ‘Uhwa’ means ‘life’ and ‘hetierba’ means ‘seven’. I heard of ‘a...
Read more

Dr Fixit (071 - 080)

 071 around our big football pitch and when we saw, we pinched a pupil near us and pointed at the door or window, whichever space was nearest, at the lad running around the pitch with a vest (it was the norm to take off your white top and run with your green shorts or skirt.) The class stopped copying what our teacher wrote on the board and we were giggling. Our giggles soared to Mrs Bearit and she turned, surveyed the class  and followed the gazes to the boy out on the grass. 072 Mrs Bearit distracted us. 'You'd join him too,' she said, 'if you don't do what I asked you to do.' Who ran around the pitch while lessons were on must have slept when being taught. We did turn our undivided attention to our teacher copying the vowels and consonants as rendered in Nseebeedee, the core alphabet of Antish. Who doesn't know them in Antburg is mulish. In Elementary Two, I worked with chalk and slate. If I made a mistake, I erased my work 073 with leaves. The teachers e...
Read more

Dr Fixit (031 - 040)

 031 'But the celebrant couldn't avoid this: the dough in his wallet thinned and he thought of how more of it he could make so he slipped out to gamble, throwing the dice and on every tackle  and dribble of footballers, he picked and betted on the team that would kick in the winning ball. Waking from a hangover and stepping across on the floor a one-night lover, the shiny wagoner opened the door of his inherited mansion and saw 032 'his father's steward hand him a note which with bleary eyes he read and who wrote  the terse message was a lawyer   from the chamber his dear father chose to manage his entire estate: "The farm is bankrupt ." Though somewhat late, the dude 's senses returned. He rushed and jumped into the wagon and right at his rump, the army ants tagged along. The stallions arrived the farm littered with empty gallons 033 'and drums. There was no farmhand in sight. Poverty puts old friends into flight . The shiny wagoner took off his shin...
Read more