Ngũgĩ: It’s a metamorphosis, not death

By Uduma Kalu

Weep not, child,
Weep not, my darling,
With these kisses let me remove your tears;
The ravening clouds shall not long be victorious,
They shall not long possess the sky- shall devour the stars only in apparition:
Jupiter shall emerge- be patient- watch again another night- the Pleiades shall emerge

~James Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

ETHEREAL, this verse has held eternal place in my subconscious. It’s so deep, touchy and time tested truth that it has been the rock of my faith. It’s the same thing as the Igbo aphorism for resilience… the flea tells its child to hold tight as what is hot will eventually get cold.

How many people has Ngũgĩ touched with this verse!
As a writer and fellow kindred spirit of the haunted and hallowed votary, I try not to mourn our Masters, Lords of the Deep, when they fly in their shooting stars of Ezizi. Because they have accomplished their assignment for humanity and have returned to the unexplored for renewal in the Land of the Unknown. They are not human beings and should not be treated or mourned as such. They are Custodians of Humanity whose ways and wisdom keep the Universe in space of balance.

The world is dotted here and there with their kind. You can’t fail to notice them. They are same wherever they are, echoing each other wherever they voice, whatever they say. Because they are dunk in the same mesh in their march for humanity. They do not choose where they are born just as Achebe’s irokos. They grow tall and are seen anywhere and everywhere. Their shed extends to all and they give meaning and honour to their homelands. They are giants. Men or women. They are the Teachers of Humanity.

When these Masters pass as Ezizi, I stand fixed. But the winds wind the waves of Ngũgĩ’s words that we should not weep but hold strong because the struggle continues.

I salute you, the body of Ngũgĩ. Spirit in ascent, more fortification in your metamorphosis.

Farewell!