Christopher Okigbo: Hurrah for Thunder

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WHATEVER happened to the elephant –
Hurrah for Thunder –
The elephant, tetrarch of the jungle:
With a wave of the hand
He could pull four trees to the ground;
His four mortar legs pounded the earth:
Wherever they treaded,
The grass was forbidden to be there.
Alas! the elephant has fallen –
Hurrah for thunder –
But already the hunters are talking about
pumpkins:
If they share the meat let them remember
thunder.
The eye that looks down will surely see the
nose;
The finger that fits should be used to pick the
nose.
Today-for tomorrow, today becomes
yesterday:
How many million promises can ever fill a
basket...
If I don’t learn to shut my mouth I’ll soon go
to hell,
I, Okigbo, town-crier/ together with my iron
bell.