SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS (ISSUE 6)

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS (ISSUE 6)

KING KOLA NUT
By Prof. Anezi Okoro

When I am thoroughly bred
I’m cream or dusky red
I split with ease from two to six
And with hot spices mix

I am the king of nuts
And I untie all nuts
Maybe I’m sweet, maybe I’m not
But I’m king kola nut

I’m served in palaces
In rich and poor palaces
And though the guest be a pauper
To serve me is proper

With me, you never toss
I welcome visitors
Whether they hunger or they thirst
I must be broken first

In meetings of all kinds
With wine, I release minds
Proverbs at length from free tongues flow
Keeping the high-minded aglow

In lawful marriages
Contracts in villages
In covenants and sacrifices
I’m the prop of each device

I link the living and the dead
In every mystic thread
And soothsayer and oracles
Need me for miracles

THE VILLAGE DRUM

By Prof. Anezi Okoro

As the bell calls kids to school
So the drum calls the village folks
Its muffled dum! dum-dum! dum-dum-dum!
Heard by all
Hearkened to by many
Whether near or far

They converge on the village square
In attire from rags to robes
Ears pricked
Speculations rife,
Hearts agog
To hear the village crier proclaim

In riddles and Proverbs
The message of the dum! dum! dum!
The Chief’s headache
Or the people’s backache
Communal work
Or communal feasting

Public trials
Or public toasting
New taxation
Or tax exemption
War
Or peace

Prof. Anezi Okoro is a Professor of Medicine and a quintessential writer. He has authored 16 books which include: Village School, Village Headmaster, One Week-One Trouble, Dr. Amadi’s Posting, Hands off Young Doctor, Eclipse Fever, Double Trouble, Pariah Earth etc. He has a collection of poems known as Ringing Verses, apart from his numerous medical journals. He is the first dermatologist in West Africa and the second in Africa. He is married to Dr. Mrs. Esoha Ayodele Anezi Okoro (Nee Ohimese), a retired senior lecturer and consultant obstetrician and gynecologist. They are blessed with four children.