She consumed the sacrilege,
And considered it a privilege.
She was away from home,
Away from her community.
She disregarded the potency of tradition,
Took light of its implications,
Or perhaps she was simply oblivious to them.
It was a community ritual to slaughter a cow,
Feasting while hanging its horns at the front of the house.
Her father claimed he had found the light;
He said he didn’t need to entangle himself in traditions that kept souls trapped in the night.
He refused to observe the tradition,
Relying instead on the supremacy of celestial divine power.
He did not warn his children about the consequences of disregarding tradition;
That nothing from the feast should be eaten.
She ate, and darkness fell upon her.
She transcended to another realm,
Speaking mystic words that opened the door to darker depths—
To a part of her that had been deep under,
She was taken to several spiritualists,
But none could help her,
None could summon the power of the highest order to rescue her.
In the end, she eased into the night.
When she returned to her family,
She troubled her home.
Strange occurrences came to light.
A sage claimed she was bitter towards her father,
Claiming that the onus was his to prepare her with enough light to face the world.
Her father asserted that she was being recalcitrant.
A cleansing was performed using her portrait,
And her spirit was chased to the beyond.
Thompson Emate spends his leisure time on creative writing, particularly poetry and prose. He has a deep love for nature and the arts. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.