Part 3


That is the sad tale of Queen Wuraola
The most beautiful woman of her time.

I can still remember that night
Segilola's voice
Whispers across the walls of yesteryears:
_" beauty is indeed a gift_
_But can also be your doom_
_it could be a blessing_
_and also be a curse_
_But virtue is rare in this world_
_Beauty can lure a man_
_But it is good characters that will keep him._
_An unbridled tongue has no right_
_To cry over a broken heart_
_A dirty damsel has no right_
_To wonder why all the men left_
_I, Segilola attracted my husband with beauty_
_But I won his heart with my character"_

I remembered how
I watched her beautiful lips swing
As she tells that sad tale
Of a murdered Queen.


The next day Segilola was rushed home from the farm
She had been bitten by a poisonous  snake
She died that evening
I was not allowed to see her body
That sad evening took away my joy
And many memory of her
I forgot the story too
And the wisdom in it
***********************

Back in the sacred groove
The spirit bird has stopped singing
The spirit of Segilola  in that _Awoko_ is gone

I was like a lifeless corpse
Lying tired in the grass
Wallowing in the willows of shame
I feel thorns of guilt
Pricking me all over
My past is here haunting me
I now know so well
why all the men left
Why they used me all these years
I have invested all my life on my body
Nourishing my skin and beauty
While my basket of virtues is empty
I was generous to my first lover
I gave him my virginity
My last lover took honesty from me
In between these two
I had graciously given my body
And I never learn to cook
Or clean

Now, I'm at the fringes of death
I'm at the edge of hell
But I know where the wound arches
Segilola's voice through that bird
Has given me the secret
So I will go back home
To reorder my steps
In the sand of time
May Eledumare please forgive me

Part 5_

I guess you will want to know what happened to Adunni after that encounter!


©Olatuja Oloyede
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