NORVI DEKPE

Norvi Dekpe!!

You should have seen her

 In those glorious days.

 When sun wasn’t half as hot as it is now.

 When you could swear by the coming of the rains.

When mobile phones were a fairytale to the poor and preserve of the very rich.

 In those days you should have  known Norvi Dekpe.

Her petite body looking so fragile,

the perfect Italian marble sculpting of her features almost ethereal.

You should have seen her I tell you,

 in those days when the gait in her feet were that of one who walks on water,

 those butterflies wing that covered her eyes batted constantly,

as  if to prevent over exposure of the bright stars behind them.

You should have seen her,

so you can tell me if there ever was a smile wider, brighter or more life filled.

Oh Norvi,

Though lowly born was highly made

A beauty that lay in every eye the beheld it

And many were those that sought to behold it

Her long slender neck could have snap with the least force

Yet it carried on it a head that was twice as beautiful 

As the body it stood on

Village born, Village raised

City wise, City made

You should have known Norvi then

You should have known Norvi

When she became a widowed mother

And though her love had passed on she would have none other

Neither would you have found a better mother

When mother and daughter would were same cloth

Talk as though best friends

More sisters than Dam and damsel

You should have known Norvi Dekpe

Before her story begun to draw my tears

Before news of her became sad news

Before the marble sculpture was weathered

By the acid rain that is life

Before copper turned green

You should have known Norvi then

So you’d lament with me

So you’d shed a tear for my sense of loss.

You should have known Norvi Dekpe