In "Dugbe"

By LinnieJane Burks

One day I chanced to pass through "Dugbe" and I saw a face.
     I did not see it, mind you, in the milling throng--
For I was on my way to buy a dish,
     (They say it could be found if one would search)
A certain size and color--somewhat rare.
     But, on the morrow, quite alone with God, I saw the Face.

It was--
     the busy Ibo woman and her wares,
     the nurse on way to work who'd stop to shop.
     the girl, not in school, but selling yams,
     the Hausa butcher with his meat and bones...and beads,
     the Iya Agba with the lovely adire cloth.

The Face...the sheep without a shepherd, so it read.
     With open Bible then I sat as "It" passed by,
Where is it now? The Face - I cannot tell, I do not know.
     My dish? a treasure rare, is there upon the shelf.
(They say, in Dugbe, can be found what 'ere
     one wants the most...if one would search...) ©September 29, 1965