Harmattan is here again
As it comes every year
It brings no new pain
It is already familiar
It is the Nigerian winter
But there is no snow
The skies are clear
Humidity is low
It’s all dry and dusty.
Yesterday was a little bit hot, I think.
But today, it can be cold and sunny,
“So thanks, but I don’t need a cold drink”
Sanponna ruled the land, in the days of yore
We were told its tenure was majorly harmattan season
We’re thankful those days are no more,
Though people still die, smallpox is no more the reason.
Yet, cold and catarrh are still around,
And dry lips and pale skin are not uncommon,
But healing and medicines are also around.
Plus cosmetics, they all offer a solution.
But there is more to the season than dread
The holidays are here, it’s the yuletide season
Noel songs on the radio, while we break bread
Our hearts are cheerful for more than one reason
I have survived the season for more than one decade
This harmattan is not the worst; I hope it’ll be the best
I thank YHWH for the days he has made
As I sing to myself, the second stanza of Great Is Thy Faithfulness:
“Summer and winter, springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
This is my conclusion:
It is written:
“While the earth remaineth,
Seedtime and harvest…
And cold and heat, and summer and winter,
And day and night shall not cease”
I know next year, whether I am here or not,
There will be another harmattan.
Laus Deo.
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Initially written and posted as a Facebook Note on December 19, 2013 at 9:10 PM