FOR YOU ALONE. (Village edition)

Chukwu m.
Nwa gi abiala na otutu.
In the early morning, I will lift my eyes to the sun.

Thanking you for the warm morning rays while I twirl the chewing stick around my teeth.

Thanking you for my beautiful household while my little Oyinye brings my pap and Akara into my hut and sets it down.
Thanking you while my wife rushes to the bush with a machete to cut fodder for the goats, and also hewing out a head of palm fruit to be used in preparing banga in the afternoon.
Thanking you very much while my little boy, Tobe, stretches his catapult to check its strenght and tests his accuracy on a nearby lizard.
Thanking you while the back of my friend, Okonkwo, is bent while trying to grind the snuff he will sell to his customers later when he goes to perform his duties as a town crier.

Jesus I praise you.

For I know that you will save my bare feet from stepping the tail of any snake that waits for me by the paths to my farm.
For I know that you will help my family avoid the paths of Iruche, the village madman that bites everyone that dares to pass his path.

For I know that you will save my daughters from entering into the trap of Uchenna, the dreaded playboy that disvirgins girls under the ukpa tree in the village square.
For I know that you will save my son from tagging along with evil friends to steal cocoyams from the barn of the village chief priest.

For I know that you will teach my wife to refrain her tongue from hurling abuses at Nwanyi Abudu, the trinket seller who we all know, is a witch.
For I know that you will make my trap catch a game that would be big enough to feed the village.

For I know that you will cause my yams to be bigger than that of the Eze, and my goats to give birth to kids in their tens.
For I know that you will make my thatched roof, made of palm fronds, strong enough to withstand the dreaded September winds that uproots homes.

For I know that you will save my cousin Ifesinachi from falling off the tall palm tree as he goes to tap the tree.
For I know you will bless Ekene's nkwobi stall and cause her customers heart to merry while eating and sharing banter.

Chukwu o.
Only you can do all these.
And that is why I depend on you.
#BASHORUN

Okontas.com

Ká máa náwó kò ní kówó ó tán; ká ya'hun kò ní kówó ó pọ̀ si / Charity won’t make you poor, just as being stingy won’t make you rich.