Requiem For A Mother-In-Law Gone Too Soon (3)

In Memory of Maame Grace Afua Ofosuaa Henaku, 1940-2018)

Dalteparin
and Tinzaparin,
that was what
the doctors
who ripped open
her guts and
doctored her body
till the soul
could not inhabit it
anymore
left out of
the surgical slashes
that were supposed
to fully restore
her health;
we also learn
Aspirin,
Bufferin,
Tylenol
and even
Advil
could just as well
have done
the trick…
recklessly
and callously
exposed to
excruciating
pains,
the old lady
was left
to bleed
and die
the painful death
of a massive
heart attack –
Pulmonary
Embolism,
that was how
flashy this criminal
act of savagery
was technically
dressed,
pointy heels
and tips,
euphemistically
dressed
to deaden
the insufferable
brain-pains
of the bereaved;
we are
disconsolately
aggrieved
who were
most beloved,
but it is
a pain
we must bear
with grace,
fortitude
and
dignity;
a fault
which is really
no single
kinsman’s fault,
a cross
which we were
each and
every one
of us bound
and doomed
to bear,
we,
witnesses
of Maafio’s slow
and painful
death…
her spirit
and soul,
though,
are very much
alive in us
who carry
her blood
and genes,
those whose
blood-clots
she carried
in her birth-pouch
for nine moons
times thirty-suns,
all eight
of us –
a lineage
of soulmates
and fellow
travelers…
Maafio,
we,
the living,
might have
miserably
failed you,
but rest assured,
destiny
has been known
never to trip
and fall –
still,
the living
must bear
the yoke
of blame
and
defeat –
10/18/18

Author: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr.

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