That's the view of St Mary's Tower, <br />From my house, <br />At number 1 Abel Agiriga Street, Okigwe; <br />A tower erected by the late Most Reverend Doctor Anthony Ilonu; <br />The former catholic bishop of Okigwe. <br /> <br />Back when I was a boy, <br />I used to see an angel in white, <br />In the uppermost chamber, <br />(The bell chamber) of this tower, <br />In the evenings, <br />From my house across the road. <br /> <br />And then I would sight <br />Two of the most beautiful dogs in the bishop's house, <br />Quietly seated at the base of the tower, <br />Looking up the tower in complete rapture. <br /> <br />The name of one was Caesar; <br />I have forgotten the other. <br />But both dogs were so hairy <br />That their manes covered their eyes. <br />And I always wondered <br />How they ever saw a thing. <br />Maybe the angel in the tower <br />Gave them divine sight here below. <br />... Shey? <br /> <br />So, <br />One evening in 1989, <br />I ignored the enraptured dogs, <br />And I ventured up the tower, <br />The spiral flight of stairs, <br />To see the angel one on one. <br /> <br />Wow... <br /> <br />The angel I always thought I saw <br />Was bishop Ilonu, praying his Office of The Hours. <br /> <br />He only gently looked at me, <br />Touched the rim of his glasses... <br />And smiled. <br /> <br />At least the smile was angelic. <br /> <br />And now I wonder why <br />He was not buried in St Mary's Church; <br />Or near this tower he erected, <br />And climbed even in old age: <br />The Tower of Angels.<br /><br />Chima Njoku Ray<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tower-of-angels/
