Ijenikor, the fruit root of evil, Was Here

longing, strongly belonging
to a whole, for vain belongings,
an excess of wants from need,
the seed of ancient greed,
which idjenikor left here.

yon desire from idjenikor the wire,
sneaky serpent and luring liar!
eve's lust is the proof (the fruit root
of all evil, the devil in our youth)
that idgenicor was here.

oft you desire things real bad,
much more than you've ever had,
like some tapeworm inside you,
to get them at all cost too---
that's idgenicor, yeah!

idjenikor has been here,
he's wrecked what seemed good here:
our love, our value,
our life, our milieu.
alas, idgenicor was here!

brothers trade selfless soul for gain.
mothers' pain's deemed worthless, hence, in vain.
salvation and honor are being haggled
and the very paradise is wangled
because idgenicor was here.

life's worth is measured in mammon,
a commoditylike red meat and salmon.
extinction of soul and treasure,
the bane of taste and pleasure!
and idgenicor was here.

saint, it's not what you are,
but it's just all you have:
your fancy things and brazen pride,
not the grace you worth inside.
that's idgenicor, oh yeah?

idgenicor is your hankering
for the lustre of rich bunkering.
as the purse fattens the urge gets stronger.
just as there lingers a wanton hunger,
idgenicor will stay here.

he once stayed in heaven
before twelve became eleven.
but cast down as errant morning star,
the greedy cherub sold his master!
so idgenicor came here---

with a kiss worth thirty pieces of silver,
the lord's stool he couldn't pilfer.
ever longing, never belonging!
yet he's got man greed thronging.
of course, idgenikor was here.

"i'm hungry and i want this!"
but, what idgenicor least expected is:
man, who'D tired himself out to feed him,
would kill and joyfully eat him.
now we've got idgenicor inside, here!

he was here
as we can hear
our love song turning
to mere lust, burning!
oh, why was idgenicor here?



            for Yvonne Ese Jeremiah,
                  my new born,

                  saint eric winter, the last.



WHAT IS ID-GENICOR?

a naija folklore holds that primordial man had a serpentine friend named idgenicor, who was always complaining about his persistent hunger.
though man did his utmost best to feed him, idgenicor was never satisfied.
his demands got to an alarming extent that man had to kill and eat him. and he did that joyfully.
unfortunately, idgenicor did not die. instead, he kept crying for more food from within man's bowel.

anatomically, it is agreeable that idgenicor is like tapeworm in man's alimentary canal.
pscho-analytically, it is known as id (that is the short form of its real name, id-gene-icor).
literally, we would agree it is greed.
theologically, it is the devil.
whichever way you choose to see it, the fact remains that idgenicor was here, and his devastating impact will remain with man for a long time.

Eric Winter, the last saint in naija's nairaland.

thanx