IN ONE LONG AND BLACK OCTOBER DAY _For Francis Duru (1969-2026)

Francis Duru (1969-2026)

In one long and black October day

In the year of our loss, 2026

Death ran to the stage for a cameo

And with a random pick, plucked

From the tree of life, one of the luscious

And fanciful fruits.

Throwing Nollywood into another

Fit of mourning, and a nation

Into a fresh colour of grief.

Cry? How long shall we cry

Over the demise of our thespians

Who mirror an alternate universe of bliss?

With them we see our lives as creatures

Creating our own realities to challenge

The prevailing menace and stasis.

When art imitates life we learn,

Not life imitating the sorrows of art.

In Frank's hurting passage, we relearn

The touch of pain and the meanness

Of a death, stilling a pulsating life of promise.

In Frank's hurting passage, we reel

Not so much from shock but from the message

Of his sojourn in the earth of our living —

The method actor who poured himself

In the movies with all of his being,

Transiting from stage to movies to streaming platforms,

The character actor who lived

In the ambience of the script and sowed

His all to be a revenant shine of light.

The Bamenda-born and Port Harcourt-nurtured actor

Who stole the heart of a nation as Ahanna

And dazzled her like a war hero for three decades

And more, and kept on flaming like a fire.

Rest on.