By Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq.
There was an idol
In the land of Oligbo.
Perfectly crafted,
By ancient craftsmen,
Called the Ikenga.
A perfect work of art,
An antiquity.
The owners sacrificed to it,
Every now and then,
With blood of fowls
Goats and sheep,
And practiced with it
The ancient art of divination.
After a long while,
The owners of this sacred piece
Took stock of their fortunes,
And concluded that
Keeping the idol was
Not economically viable
In this modern world.
So they conspired to sell it off
To collectors of antiquities
For some cool Pounds.
Just then, the idol
Spoke up by divination
Complaining bitterly
That the sacrifices to
It were unsatisfactory;
That he should be appeased
With more sacrifices or else
He would grow angry.
Oblivious of the silent fact
That he was on his way to Europe,
As a collector’s item.
Proving once again that,
Like his likes.
He was a classic idol.
Culled from: A Question for the Vatican and other Poems. Available at : https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09Q2DQ2B5
@ Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq.
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Explanation
The story revolves around an idol called the Ikenga in the land of Oligbo, renowned for itsartistry and antiquity. The idol was worshiped through regular sacrifices and divination practices by its owners. However, over time, the owners assessed their financial situation and deemed the idol economically unbeneficial in the contemporary world. Consequently, they decided to sell the Ikenga to collectors of antiquities for a considerable sum of money. As they were making this decision, the idol, as though speaking by divination, expressed dissatisfaction with the sacrifices offered to it and demanded more, or it would become angry. This outcry by the idol was ironic since it was unaware that it was already being sold to become a mere collector’s item in Europe, once again proving that, like other idols of its kind, the Ikenga was a classic and yet powerless idol.
