Omidan (Damsel)
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: Omidan (Damsel)
Medium: terracotta
Date: 2010
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Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: Omidan (Damsel)
Medium: terracotta
Date: 2010
I’m a refugee
An exile, a stranger
In a gold residence.
Home died decades away.
Those who opened their door
To welcome my wandering legs
Point to me their tables
decked with wine and sweetbread.
If the road is bad
buy-a-Jeep-generation.
If the oil is crude
export them for refining
then import-them-for-distribution-generation
If the schools are bad
send-your-children-abroad-for-education-generation
If there is a food shortage
import-food-from-abroad-generation.
If there is no pipe-borne water
SAY IT NOW
When you speak to yourself at night
be not afraid to speak truth
to thunder using the language of proverbs
to deliver music to homeless soldiers
eating from street dumpsters
with long spoons dining with the devil
wearing rifles loaded with a silver lining
We are getting close to the end of the architectural sculpture.
Hey, world out there
I hunker down here
and hail you, dear friend,
for we now live in the world
of virtual friends
but you can’t hug anymore.
We live in a new world.
Cellphone Conversation
(After Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation”)
My phone rang, I recognized the number
and picked it up.
“Hey, babe,” I said,
“What’s going on?”
She started laughing,
and it seemed she wanted to talk,
but just couldn’t control herself.
I wanted to know
what was so funny. Finally,
she managed to stop laughing.