" LACUNA"

                             
   
                     "LACUNA"

My narrative on family dynamics and the matriarch will be very woolly if a crucial lacuna or void is not given a seamless weave into the loom and the spindle of the tapestry. For this reason, that missing strand of thread is now being woven into that story. Unwinding this spool of thread into the entire embroidery of the family dynamics is to let my audience or readers experience firsthand the uncanny attempt to whisk the terminally ailing matriarch away from her home against her wish and will to a house of indescribable terror she had vowed never to return to after her hejira or escape.

As the matriarch struggled for her life, the sad news of her deteriorating health got to her eldest daughter who at the time was in Portharcourt visiting her youngest daughter Chinyere. She requested a leave from her hosts to visit her dying mother, the matriarch. Within her, she fervently prayed to God Almighty that He keep her alive before her arrival, so as to minister the gospel to her before her exit of no return.

It took her an interminable time, if not eternity, to get a bus to Umuahia. As she finally made it to her mother's home, lo and behold, there was a group of persons there: Chief Orisa, Da Alice, and De Goddy, who tried to cajole the matriarch to return to Chief Orisa's home she escaped from and vowed never to return to. She was told by Chief Orisa that she was baking under the intense heatwave in her own home, that she would rather feel more comfortable and at home in his own house which was equipped with air conditioners. But she refused to yield to their ploy and subterfuge.

Sighting her eldest daughter, Ejituru, sparks of fire emitted from her eyes, and there was a ray of hope. Her presence reassured and stabilized her, giving her a great sense of relief. Auntie Eji stayed with her, caring for her, and ministering the gospel to her up to her death. So sad indeed, that the matriarch, irrespective of her refusal to be taken to Chief Orisa's home, in death throes, was eventually buried there against her wish and will.

That missing link is now woven into the tapestry. The lacuna is ultimately filled.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"FRACTURED FAMILY"

Image
                          FRACTURED FAMILY                           " RECENSION" "May Mama’s soul continue to rest in peace.  Beautiful writeup".- Olivia Chinyere Emeruem            "It is still surreal. The flashbacks keep coming back in successions. I still hear her voice in my head. I see her pictures and feel like she is still just a call away. "A brother who is at war with himself lacks the moral standard to broker peace outside or convoke a general family assembly to pontificate about peace when his kitchen is in tatters."-Princeclintonuzohr  This is my favourite line from this piece. The Holy Bible refers to such character as worse than an infidel. A na-amara nma si n'ụlọ pụta ama(Charity begins at home)." - Adaeze Barbara  Akachi "Nice Piece,  though very long to  make a book" - Ucheh...
Read more

"CONFLICT RESOLUTION"

Image
FRACTURED FAMILY As the family got bogged down by the quagmire that has the potential and the capacity to continue to shred it apart to smithereens for generations to come, friends, well-wishers, fiends and the quarreling parties alike turned blind eye to  this malady. Their negligence became a tinder igniting the smoldering smoke of discord  into a consuming flame of strife , hostility and disunity among siblings. What was more, their unwillingness, hubris,  accusations and recriminations to navigate out of this mire festered and seemed intractable. Every form of social intercourse among siblings ground to a halt, with hurtful and malicious undercurrents. Separate existence became a preference,which sacrificed communal existence on the altar of cloistered living with an eerie dash. The centerpiece of this saga was the matriarch. The situation insidiously eroded her sinew and brawniness, but she displayed exceptional strength,resilience and determination to...
Read more

"TEARFUL PROTEST FROM SHEOL"

Image
FRACTURED FAMILY   The teardrops from the great beyond flooded the matriarch's compound and the nightingale lamented ceaselessly for closure. Threatening to metamorphose into an ocean if not pacified. "My wishes and instructions prior to my journey of no return were disregarded by my very loved ones. What a heinous betrayal with a tragic implication?"  "The chasm between us though very wide, but God watches over our actions and reserves for the villain his deserts." "Exhume and gather my remains, transport them to my chosen place of burial and  there commit them to mother earth. This is the only placation to get my soul to repose in perfect peace.  My soul is still hovering and wandering desultorily. How can I  rest in peace, let alone perfectly.  Is to obey not better than sacrifice?" "While I remained with you, I cherished burial brochure. But why was none designed for me, d o I not  deserve that?"
Read more