I Saw a Gorilla


Its cavernously dark eye balls
Surrounded by darker furry backdrop
Bored into mine unrepentantly.
At first they were blank stares
But I soon recognised them:
A typical I-know-your-grandfather glare.
Accusatory. Demanding. Usurpatory.
One, accusing me of insolence
For not recognising them for
Having seen my grand sires before I even knew them.
Two, demanding respect for a good deed
I am not privy to.
Three. Usurping my individuality
By asking for recognition when
I really do not recognise
Nor do I even wish to.

An internal switch auto flicked on
Mine returned the beam; full glares.
The you-knew-my-grandparents-and-so-what mope
Not accusatory. Not demanding.
But usurpatory too!
“Haba! My own go different?
Na who born rat wey no de fear cat?”
Actually not that proverb…
Wrong one but right thought!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"My Husband washes my Undies"

My country is indeed an interesting place! I read with consternation as a couple of women reportedly emerged on social media to announce to the world what their spouses do and whatnots. I believe the whole noise came off one of the events on the ongoing BBNaija show where one of the contestants reportedly washed the pants of his love interest. And the dying-to-be-distracted throng of Nigerian youths started another session of tantrum throwing on the internet over whether Neo (so is his name) should have or have not washed Vee's (I hope am correct) panties. And the stuff even made it to  Premium Times  and BBC .  So much noise about nothing, if you ask me! This is not the first time this is happening. In a previous season of BBNaija, another housemate sparked controversies for washing the undies of his love interest. A lot of internet perfectionists came out with condemnations or adulations. Others came with nothing. I call it the dying-to-be-distracted throng. The mass of Nero'
Read more

Why Guys Don't Propose Fast Enough

Image
http://www.reception-wedding.com/wedding_rings.htm I have been refusing to blog on this for a long time for fear of being misunderstood. But the barrage of complaints for a number of affected friends has not abated. Let me use this story to buttress my point. Please note that the names have been changed not to point at any individual living or dead. Adaku has always been a reserved girl. Right through Secondary School and her early university days, she kept away from associating with certain kind of friends especially girls who do not think like she does and guys. Her upbringing has been under the strict and conservative instructions of her parents. But in the university she meets Haruna, a handsome, intelligent and promising young man who was a year ahead of her in the University. One thing leads to another and before long, they were dating steadily. Their relationship continued from her 3rd year in the university till seven years afterwards. Now, Adaku isn't very sure
Read more

Learning Deutsch

The first time we arrived purposely to learn German, we were so enthusiastic. For me, I haven't really sat down to learn a new language, perhaps because there are no formalised institutions for learning Nigerian languages as in Germany. And that strikes me as odd! No one seems to have discovered that we could actually create formalised outlets for learning some, if not all, of our 250 languages. If that had existed, I could have spent time learning good Hausa formally in the six years that I spent teaching in Gombe.  But again, there is yet another snag: why would one pay, sometimes heavily, to learn a language that perhaps has little or no global presence? People have been learning German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and they are now learning Chinese even in Europe. Why? The people who own those languages have some value or so they think, that those who are learning their language want. Take a look at English language. Even with Brexit, a lot of European nations are still sc
Read more