A Tale of Two Worlds – Part 1 By:- Itodo Samuel Anthony

A Tale of Two Worlds – Part 1 By:- Itodo Samuel Anthony

I grew up being scared of grave sites. Shit…after all those sermons by the older folks of how spirits used to slap children who were bad…and in my heart of hearts I wasn’t a saint…I can’t lie. Plus watching plenty Willie Willie under the age of 9 didn’t help matters too.

So at that age there was this fenced cemetery not too far from our neighborhood. Each time I had cause to walk even 50 meters close to that fence I got two or more kids to help me ‘cross the boundary’. In the absence of willing allies, I did the sprint…shit, coulda given Usain Bolt a run for his money…looking back.

Fastforward. To Edinburgh…2013

One night in 2013 my Swedish friend Ellinor called me out to dinner…but first she had a surprise for me. I followed her blindly into the heart of Edinburgh…and found myself in…you guessed right…a cemetery.

My friend was so excited…it was perhaps like taking me to the Taj Mahal. Place was starved of light…we groped in the dark as she excitedly took me to the gravestone of David Hume…yea, the Scottish empericist philosopher.

She informed me of how a certain european friend of hers, a philosophy student screamed with excitement at the gravestone of Hume, taking plenty of pictures. Hmmmm.

I liked Hume, from my philosophy class. But I didn’t bargain to meet him in a poorly lit cemetary with only me and my friend about. Okay dust it, no spirit was gonna slap me…but I’d also had my fair dose of horror movies…shitty stuff can happen in creepy places.

Finally we left. Thank God! Dinner was nice. Rice and mangolasi juice.

Then weeks later my Spanish friend paid me a visit at school. As we were walking the grounds we stumbled upon…a cemetery…in my school! I had no idea there was one.

My friend Nuria oozed with excitement. You have a cemetary in your school! I love cemeteries…so quiet and peaceful. I go there to relax in Spain. Ehnnn??? And she found a spot, to ‘relax’. So I began to access my impression of cemeteries. There should be only bones after all…no biggies.

So while in Paris I was following my map of monuments and I found myself at Montmatre…a national cemetery.

And I walked into the ‘estate’, took a map and scanned the names on the log. I found Alexandre Dumas and a certain Antoine of interest and proceeded to wander the grounds for the vanity quest of finding their tombstones. And suddenly the cemetery became a truly serene place…not a frightful place. I even picked a spot to enjoy the beauty…the songs of the birds and all…and contemplated birthing a poem in the ambience.

Anyway back in Naija na another matter o. E no make say I go just go enter any graveyard anyhow say I wan show my talent. Oyibo spirit no dey vex o. After going through this hell of a life here I can understand why any dead Nigerian would want to be a spirit to slap any careless wanderer. I won’t be any spirit’s experimental guinea pig abeg. Ehen.

Click Here For A Tale of Two Worlds – Part 2 (The End) By:- Itodo Samuel Anthony