Tower Of Angels Poem by Chima Njoku Ray

That's the view of St Mary's Tower,
From my house,
At number 1 Abel Agiriga Street, Okigwe;
A tower erected by the late Most Reverend Doctor Anthony Ilonu;
The former catholic bishop of Okigwe.

Back when I was a boy,
I used to see an angel in white,
In the uppermost chamber,
(The bell chamber)of this tower,
In the evenings,
From my house across the road.

And then I would sight
Two of the most beautiful dogs in the bishop's house,
Quietly seated at the base of the tower,
Looking up the tower in complete rapture.

The name of one was Caesar;
I have forgotten the other.
But both dogs were so hairy
That their manes covered their eyes.
And I always wondered
How they ever saw a thing.
Maybe the angel in the tower
Gave them divine sight here below.

... Shey?

So,
One evening in 1989,
I ignored the enraptured dogs,
And I ventured up the tower,
The spiral flight of stairs,
To see the angel one on one.

Wow...

The angel I always thought I saw
Was bishop Ilonu,
Praying his Office of The Hours.

He only gently looked at me,
Touched the rim of his glasses...
And smiled.

At least the smile was angelic.

And now I wonder why
He was not buried in St Mary's Church;
Or near this tower he erected,
And climbed even in old age:
The Tower of Angels.