Meanwhile, as The Son finds rest,
Chaos wrecks right through the land.
For a young chief is owed best,
A man to call First Husband.

From the north, south, east and west,
Common men have shown their hand.
They have promised they would wrest,
To make due every demand.

The chief sends one simple test,
To the men who claim to stand.
She'd choose the very finest,
Man who can build on quicksand.

Not beauty, nor strength of chest,
Not vaults of cowries, so grand.
But a mind that prevails, lest
It fails the test to withstand.

Chief Wekpe, born a clansblood,
Is blessed above all others.
With hands that mold clay and mud,
And a mind to tease mothers.

She's wild and crude, seen as odd,
She spends her days in waters.
She rules with a simple nod,
Or with her various floggers.

Dark and huge, just like a stud,
She stands above commoners.
A wildflower, un-reared bud,
That will never have owners.

Usobo is home, her pod,
One, among four sliced sectors.
Each kept by one Jiki god,
Usobo, and three others.

She's caused her clansmen to cry,
They don't know which way to go.
She grows old while they all try,
To find her one good fellow.

They send one who will not lie,
To learn all that she can know.
But she chooses to deny,
The dreaded plans, she won't show.

Ahan comes with gifts of mayi,
And a laden wheelbarrow.
Ahan knows she must comply,
Though their wishes are hollow.

The clansmen will spend and buy,
Gifts that will rot tomorrow.
Cause Ahan knows she will die,
If she utters their sorrow.

Ahan belongs to Wekpe,
A truth people understand.
But the clansmen don't quite care,
When they send their cruel demand.

She marches down the steep clear,
Upon a patched road of grand.
Trees shaping the way to where,
The sun peeks out its first stand.

A cool, private stream laid bare,
Rounded by loose, white sand.
And as expected, right there,
Lies Wekpe's cruel command.

A maiden with a small shear,
Holds Wekpe's hair in her hand.
Poised to pretend she can't hear,
A thing, from the skies to land.

As the maiden works behind,
Wekpe watches Ahan come.
Her eyes, cutting and defined,
Clad in doubt and suspicion.

"What is it?" Wekpe inclines,
In sweet, melodic caution.
She seeks to reply in kind,
But it's a nasty notion.

"I don't wish to waste your time,
But they want a decision."
Ahan wishes, in her mind,
That she's found a solution.

"Maybe I should now remind,
My clansmen of confusion.
Maybe they need to unwind,
And find their brains' location.

They dare speak through you to me,
Like I am some handled child.
They dare speak so openly,
Like you are my way and guide."

Ahan knows true, what will be,
Her heart beats quickly inside.
For when Wekpe grows angry,
The hot flame spreads far and wide.

"They couldn't reach you freely,
Though they know where you reside.
They knew it would be easy,
Since I'm always by your side."

Wekpe's smile is curt to see,
The kind that will not abide.
The kind that will bleed slowly,
In ways, Ahan can't confide.

Wekpe exits from the stream,
Leaving the maid to fumble.
She is not done, it would seem,
But it's not quite horrible.

Black, kinky, a mane-like dream,
Combed to show she is noble.
Carved to hide her sharp jaw seam,
To do more than it's able.

Quickly, the maid applies cream,
To make her skin durable.
Wekpe stands, unclothed, supreme,
Her black body, mark-able.

On her chest, lies the dot scheme,
That makes her most valuable.
Commoners dare not blaspheme,
For she is honorable.

The dot is black, for her clan,
It speaks her identity.
Marks her as clansblood, titan,
Above all in society.

The same dot is on Ahan,
But hers is white, distinctly.
Noble from another clan,
Owned by Wekpe, entirely.

As has been the divine plan,
Every clan sends a proxy.
Every clan sends a guardian,
To swear their noble fealty.

To break doubts that are human,
To make peace and unity.
Chiefs send a man or woman,
To give up their liberty.

When Wekpe stands, Ahan cedes,
The way she's been trained to be.
With nothing else, she proceeds,
"Command and I will agree."

But Wekpe restates her needs,
All failed men, she will not see.
If they wish to plant blood seeds,
Then they must claim victory.

"Only a wise man secedes,
Out of simple courtesy.
My one test still precedes,
And shows what I need to see."

To this, Ahan dares not plead,
Wekpe has spoken clearly.
Seeking, asking for repeats,
Would be outright foolery.