Iche Eme Ka Ugo

By

Obododimma Oha

Iche the parrot and ugo the eagle are related but are not the same. Iche can pretend to be ugo, but that is only an identity theft. Iche does not behave like ugo. Iche is a pretender and an imitator. It can even mimic human speech and you are deceived into thinking that it is the owner of the house. The owner of the house in a cage? The owner of the house a pretender? The owner of the house wanting to be the owner of the house. Yes; indeed, iche eme ka ugo! The parrot does not behave like the eagle.

When the mother spirit in our village chants it, I listen. I listen because she is saying things. She is not just speaking, disturbing the air. She is not just making noise. Iche eme ka ugo. The mother spirit of our village is saying things. Those who know it know it. She is saying things.

Iche eme ka ugo. Iche stays in the cage, in the house, imitating actions. Ugo flies to heights; heights no human can reach and glides the noble way. It flies to show you it is not just any bird flying. It flies to show you that it is not meant for a cage. Ugo is not an imitator of actions. It is the doer of actions. It leads; other aviators follow.

Iche eme ka ugo. It does not steal identity. It speaks; other birds in the cage imitate. If other birds in the cage like, let them alter their feathers and tell you they are the eagle. Why would they not want to be what they are not? Why wouldn’t they want to be the eagle? Are they not ashamed of being what they are? Are they not ashamed of being cage dwellers? Are they not ashamed of being part of the decoration? Are they not fed up with captivity and would like to try nobility of the heights?

Can you understand now why the mother spirit in our village chants: iche eme ka ugo sometimes? She has seen things and says things. If you listen, you can hear her. Iche eme ka ugo. She is not just saying that similes are not metaphors! If you listen to that mother spirit, you would hear the mother of all talking. She is saying things about saying things.

Iche can dazzle the visitor with its feathers. Iche can impress with its imitation that is not the real speech. But ugo does not imitate speech, does not have time to imitate. Ugo does. Ugo graces. Ugo impresses with its noble, original actions. It teaches the world to be original. It teaches the world to think original.

The wisdom of iche is the wisdom of the cage. The wisdom of ugo is the wisdom of the noble heights!

Can you see how ugo keeps her nestlings? They were not born in a cage, neither do they have to learn to stay on anybody’s shoulders and imitate speech. They start learning nobility in the remove, their removed perch. The ugo nestlings are wiser that caglings of speech. Wait till you see them learn to fly.

An ugo in flight is a speech. It is not an imitation of speech. An ugo in flight is a long narrative on nobility. When the ugo nestlings are learning to fly, they are learning how to manage nobility, how to live nobility. Because it is their destiny.

Yes; iche eme ka ugo. The mother spirit of our village is singing in my head. The mother spirit of our village is saying things in my head. The mother spirit of our village lives eternally in my head. She is teaching me in a drizzle of proverbs. She is teaching like ugo teaching her nestlings how to fly nobility. She is teaching me that iche eme ka ugo.

Iche is iche; ugo is ugo. Let us note the difference. Let us separate the two. The person that steps barefooted on the sand should master his or her footprint. Because iche eme ka ugo. Iche is iche; ugo is ugo. Even if they are relatives that fly.

Are we not being told in that chant that we should not see iche and call it ugo? Are we not being taught to distinguish the height from the depths?

It is important to learn the speech of the eagle and its imitation by the parrot. The imitation by the parrot is an arrested speech; speech of the cage. The speech of the eagle is the unhindered nobility of the heights. Ugo leads; iche follows. Iche with all imitators. Iche will never be the ugo, no matter how hard it tries. I am listening to the mother of spirits in our village saying it now at past midnight.