Unfinished Discussion (For Prof. Ime Ikiddeh)


Soon after we met
to discuss tribes and legends?
How did it happen?
why did it happen?
why an unfinished discussion?

You ferried me like Moses
by the cargo of Ibibio Literature
Adorned with the fodder of oral tradition
till I came to this Jordan
on my way to the promised land
why an unfinished discussion?

My lips bid you fare well
to please time-honoured tradition
my heart is mute and heavy
in disbelief of this awful news
Where do I see you now?
Icon, father and mentor
in Ngugi's Kenya that you loved
or in the bone-freezing coolness of Leeds?
Are you in Nkrumah's Ghana where you sojourned?

Icon, father and mentor,
we did not finish the discussion!
By: Prince Robert Udoikpa

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