What An Old Man Sees While Sitting Down, A Child Can Not See Even If He Climbs Up An Iroko Tree
Among the Igbos of Nigeria it is exaggerated
That "what an old man sees sitted
A child wouldn't even if he climbs
Up a tree."
Walking down Memory Avenue
I see it is true
As I cast at last, a fast glance
Back to the dark track of yesteryears
I remember I used to always scamper up
An almond tree in the vicinage
In search of fruits
Fruits and nothing else
I'd never forsook any nook
And always got my packs filled after I disembark the bark.
Lots of fruits!
But then I grew older and got well advanced in age
I came to discover
There was an old brothel just opposite my tree
The tree I'd been attending all these years!
An old brothel!
And more is, it's windows are always ope'
Cos they're high up top 10 ft
I could have been mounting this tree every nightfall
While the lasses did their thing
And let me in on all that view,
All that action!
As I peek through the windows from the range.
Oh what a miss
And I'm assured the older men of those days
Had seen more in that call house while sitting
Than I had all my days of trotting ignorantly up that tree.
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