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 Odinye                                203 

 

THE HOOD IN NOSTALGIA (A POEM) 
 

Ifeoma Ezinne Odinye, PhD 

Department of Language and Literature 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria 

Email: ifeomaodinye@gmail.com 

ie.odinye@unizik.edu.ng 

 

 

The wind sings dirges  

                      of ancestral savannahs 

coloured in green and grey 

                      on wet bellied soil with 

exhausted antennae. 

 

 

The Hood, my former earth 

                        had a smile like the twilight 

yearning in desire to meet 

the dodging sky every night— 

A natural gesture wheeled by fate 

  in a widening gyre of pure innocence. 

 

 

In Hood’s stead, Anyanwu, the Sunshine was before noon 

  bearing a shower of warm beaming rays. 

It gave Hood’s children a push onto their knees. 

This push lifted their hands and legs to grab the best of the land 

The land they gently nurtured in God’s muse as seasonal visitors; 

  A joyful season; an expression of exceeding luck for harvest. 

 

 

The Hood was a system with life 

                         where everything was moving in lines 

Shedding ceremonial roles, 

                            Afternoon respected the Morning 

Evening honoured the night. 

                            Plants fed continents with 

roots and primaeval fruit. 

                         Perfection stood in white robe 

The past with memory. 

 

 

 

mailto:ifeomaodinye@gmail.com
mailto:ie.odinye@unizik.edu.ng


AJELLS: Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2020 

 

 Odinye                                204 

 

The Hood had merry beings and warrior friends 

                    incubated in Iroko—the strong gaint 

Udala, the mother of many children that breastfed all with her juicy milk  

       Nkwu, the special one that graced every homestead like ancestral warriors 

Uni, the sweet one coloured in ripened yellow apparel 

                     Akpu, the benevolent one that fed millions without complaint 

Ji, the King of foods who graced many ceremonies with grand aura of a kind  

A memory clouded in sweet reality. 

 

 

The Hood had an aura of royalty 

   A palace decorated with nature’s flowery friends, roots and nuts 

The feeble Nchuanwu scented the meandering pathways  

                     accompanied by Ugu, Mgbolodi and Arira  

Onugbu, the bitter one graced every pot with special taste for meals 

                         Akwu coloured the soups in milky reddish yellow 

  Ede thickened water to coat the balls of fufu meant for throat journey 

       A special memory—the one flavoured by Ogili and Ugba. 

The Hood had sailed with her league of friends for decades 

 until she stretched her hand to welcome a stranger from far land. 

 

 

Under Hood’s silent watch 

        future coiled in the air 

Uncharted, hearts are notched 

           with kindred spirits of baobab 

and obeche trees yoked in crafted jealousy, 

             a totem of gentle civilization 

silenced by ferocious invaders. 

 

 

Dark powers stood in the way of the Hood, 

                       armed with unusual sense, iron and powder 

A sensual fear; a metal fear in python-like coil 

                        throbbing the heart of the Hood 

in chains of dark clouds. 

 

 

Fate and faith played in swirling vortex 

                           Innocence and maturity fought in solitude 

tangled in a long witted battle— 

                           a long tale sprayed in inhibition. 

The passage with memory.  

 



AJELLS: Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2020 

 

 Odinye                                205 

 

Now, time stagnates here, retiring goodness to rest in the morning; 

            the goodness Amadioha sentineled the east in past glory 

until justice, unity, peace and love were wrenched on dark alters 

                       occasioned by undelightful company of unchained barking dogs 

The flowery palace was replaced with hardened gaint bricks in all corners 

              Sugar replaced Uni in sweet savory taste 

Plastic, rubber, paint, chemicals and chaff became special delicacies! 

               Everything embraced a new lyric; a new dance! 

 

  

Now, Hood’s children are coloured in a new ascent 

masked with concentrated madness in the world, a pattern with no 

pattern 

Hood’s life is deformed; the body is severely damaged with deep wounds  

The Okro stem is now tougher than its owner 

The once tender yam tendril can no longer be guarded 

  Rain falls amidst sunshine 

Things fall apart, the old and young dance together in nakedness 

               Both slavered into modernity of a joke! 

There are no adults; there are no children 

              All foods are for all—sweet, bitter, sour, tasty, tasteless! 

 

 

Blowing the thought-pipe, 

                        memory rolls the picture of the past with clouded innocence: 

Men and women joyous in sacred gatherings free from mischief  

               Kings robed in justice smiling in satisfaction 

Boys and girls in meandering lonely paths laughing without insidious intent 

                            caught in between exhausted shivering 

after a long fatigued dance under the cool blazing Sun; 

under the dazzling watch of Amadioha, the All seeing, the All 

knowing! 

 

 

Now, the rhythm has changed 

                The fear of Amadioha no longer stirs the pudding of the heart 

Hearts stare downward in cloned worship 

                Children sing like adults glued in praise 

Men and girls stand here and there stirring the chocolate pot that doesn’t burn 

in the open 

                  Women and boys agitate in motion bustling in active service 

A claim of modernity cowed into grace! 

 

 



AJELLS: Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2020 

 

 Odinye                                206 

 

Now, the Hood’s map is lost 

            The leaders are standing still at the centre 

Parents are driven by the wind in continental drive 

              Children spread in surfaces of different shapes— 

So free moving up and down; down and up! 

              There is no direction! 

Everyone, a master on elevated social standing; 

              slaying alone in elevated thoughts of the known and unknown. 

Peace sleeps without waking! 

              Trouble plays without resting! 

Murmuring covers everywhere—a pandemonium!  

 

 

Memory slipped in at intervals gracing Hood’s children with deep thoughts 

      about past and present  

Souls stared in heavens indulging in fantasy of the past 

                             mind strolled to futile hope 

holding tightly to the best in the past hood 

                              when deep dimples graced young cheeks frequently 

after rattling in groups with friends under the cold rain. 

                              The silvery drops of rain glowed their hearts into one 

leaving pieces of joy sparkling in their hearts. 

                               Like the green forest, their hearts widened 

like giant grasses catching fun in freedom. 

 

 

Now, they have deserted the Hood; 

                               they are blinded by dazzling energy of making giant strides 

A modern effort that almost blinded their eyes by force in far cities— 

        a money call with sharp cannibal teeth; 

A fast life with fancied security cloned in black countenance. 

 

 

In reluctance, they smiled broadly 

                               recollecting the golden path graced with purity 

The thought of Hood suppressed their pain of seclusion; 

                             Children forced out of the Hood in search of self and future. 

Mixed up in feelings, they scooped up their emotions to follow the future 

refreshing their joys of Hood journeys in endless giggle 

to re-open the moments that melt the heart. 

  A dream to catch the fallen star after escaping the prison! 

 

 

 



AJELLS: Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2020 

 

 Odinye                                207 

 

(GLOSSARY OF IGBO WORDS) 

 

Akpu (Cassava): A tropical root plant which is the source of 

tapioca. A staple food common among Igbo 

people 

Akwu (Palm Nuts): The edible seed of Elaeis guineesis, the palm 

oil 

Amadioha: A deity (god) in Igbo religious worship 

Anyanwu (Sun): The star that the Earth revolves around and 

from which it receives light and warmth 

Arira: Slimy edible green plant rich in vitamins 

Ede (Cocoyam): The edible root of the plant malanga used in 

thickening local soups 

Iroko: African hardwood obtained from several 

African trees of the genus Chlorophora 

Ji: The edible, starchy, tuberous root of that plant, 

a tropical staple food 

Nchuanwu (Scent leaf): Special naturally scented leaves for cooking 

special food in Igbo land 

Nkwu: A tree of the family Arecaceae usually 

characterized by having a single stem or trunk, 

directly fromwhich several leaves or fronds 

give a shape like an outstretched hand 

Ogili: A special native dark condiment made from 

edibleseedpods mixed with otherlocal 

ingredients for cooking delicious Igbo soups  

Onugbu (Bitter leaf): Special edible green bitter plant used in making 

local soups in Igbo region of Nigeria 

Udala: African star fruit known for its sour taste. It is 

believed to be a friend of all; a potent source of 

childbearing 

 



AJELLS: Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2020 

 

 Odinye                                208 

 

Ugba: A local delicacy made from cutting edible 

seedpods mixed with local ingredients 

Uni: A small yellowish oval-shaped fruit commonly 

known for its long lasting sweetness on the 

tastebud. It is called a sugar fruit. 


