When I look into the sky, I see your eyes.

And a glint of joy in them

As you ran around our father’s obu

Naked,

With a scarf

Tied around your dada,-

Coloured like the anthill

On the way to Nenlo-,

To stop it from flying in the wind.

When I look into the sky, I see your eyes.

And the confidence 

That lied in them

When father called you Ada,

And made you sit 

Atop his laps,

A proud smile

Etched upon his wrinkled face.

Because you were his only daughter,

He used to say

That you were special,

And I still believe you are.

When I look into the sky, I see your eyes.

I also see the fear

That rose in them

When Dibia came to check on you

At the time your sickness

Had just begun,

When Papa had feared

That you would die.

Dibia had told us

That your mates were calling

From the other side.

I didn’t understand him then,

But I think I do now.

When I look into the sky, I see your eyes.

I see the anxiety in them

As the call got louder,-

And you got frailer-,

Your light skin becoming lighter,

Making you look like the Onwa

That sat in the sky

On the nights when 

Mama pressed cold water

To your head

To reduce your temperature

And make you feel better.

When I look into the sky, I see your eyes.

Weak,

From all the marks

That Dibia had cut into your skin

So that Mama would pour in

The mmiri onugbu

That I squeezed for your treatment

Every morning,

For as long as you laid sick

In body and soul,

But certainly not in spirit.

When I look into the sky, I see your eyes.

Happy, 

Fulfilled,

When I sat by your mat

And listened to you speak. 

Although you were sick,

You were elated to see me,

And to share with me

Stories

Of the tortoise and its tricks,

And about how the things

We see in this world

Are all spiritual

Than they are physical.

When I look into the sky, I see your eyes

Hollow,

Empty,

For your spirit had finally

Left your body,

And you have been united

With your mates at last.

As Papa cried,

And Mama wailed,-

With women surrounding her

In a bid to console her

And stop her from trying

To hurt herself-, 

I could see you standing

Under the akwu tree,

Smiling and waving,

From a distance,

At a broken me.