ORIGINS, ARISEN....

I had a dream one night, a few years ago now.

My dreams are often a kaleidoscope,

Of incongruent images which make no sense.

But, I remembered this dream,

I remembered it vividly,

Though it made no sense, at the time.

I saw a huge tree in my dream,

With massive branches spreading widely.

I got the impression, quite strongly too

That the tree was located in Benin.

From the tree trunk, arose the figure of a woman,

It looked like she had sprung out of the earth.

It seemed that like the massive tree,

Her roots were firmly embedded in the earth,

from whence she had arisen,

And her arms were outstretched, just like the branches.

What did this mean?

What did this connote?

I wondered briefly, then forgot,

Till I saw a depiction of my dream in a cousins painting,

Not very long afterwards, WOW!!!

How could this be, I wondered?

How could my cousin have drawn my vision?

When I had shared it with no one else,

When I could barely make sense of it myself?

Is it because we are relatives, thus connected?

We are connected, because we are cousins,

We are connected, because we share the same blood.

We are connected, because we both schooled in Benin.

I also lived there for most of my childhood and youth,

While he spent some of his formative years there in boarding school.

We are both doctors, as well as artists,

I'm the literary kind, he's the graphic kind.

So scientific and artistic we both are!

An unusual combination of skills don't you think?

Or is it really???

I digress, as I am wont to do.

So back to my dream.

What does it mean?

Does it even matter what it means???

I've had some thoughts on this,  

But no firm conclusions yet.

I've even come across an Igbo chap,

Who unbeknownst to himself,

Echoed some of my thoughts.

Amazing, don't you think,

That three separate beings,

Could share the same "bizarre" thoughts.

I won't go into the details here,

Of my thoughts, of my clumsy interpretations.

Its too absurd to consciously voice out, even to myself.

So I leave "YOU", with the puzzle of my dream,

Is there anybody out there, who can shed some light?

Like Joseph of old, is there any dream interpreter out there?

My thoughts on the matter include "Origins", "The garden of Eden",

But I make no firm conclusions.

Only the good Lord knows what my dream meant,

And whether it even meant anything at all even....!

If it did, I know in time all WILL be revealed,

Selah...

By Christie Nonye Akumabor 20/04/10



Queen Idia of Benin

Then I went and found this picture of me,
which I'd completely forgotten about



Just moi, sporting my new Masai look