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Fear Not the Storm
Fear Not the Storm
Àwa kò bẹ̀rù (We are not afraid)
Àyà kò fò wá (Scared are we not)
Olódùmarè lalákǒso (The Almighty is in charge)
Kò sí bí ìjì náà ṣe lè tó (However wild the storm may rage)
Àwa ọmọ Irúnmọlẹ̀ (We are the children of Divine forces)
Dear Kicking Fetus
Dear Kicking Fetus
For Saidiya Hartman***
Why kick your mother
so hard, so relentless
right in the center
of her tender navel?
Is there something
you know about life,
about the impious ways
Ìrẹtẹ̀ Méjì.
Do you know why people say Ọbá wàjà (the monarch climbed the rafter) and not Ọbá kú (the monarch died)?
You will find the answer to the riddle in Ìrẹtẹ̀ Méjì.
Orunmila was a monarch, who gave birth to several other monarchs including Alárá, Ajerò, Ọlọ́wọ̀ and several others.
You will also find out in Ìrẹtẹ̀ Méjì why Yoruba people (ọmọ a yọ orù bá wọn tọ́jú) do not die, but climb the rafter.
One day, one day!
One day, one day!
Soja go come.
Soja go do.
Soja go catch Don’t Climb.
Walahi, Talahi
ÀÌKÚ
When I was a kid between the ages of three to ten, my friends and I were fond of watching Lọ́baníkà, an egúngún masquerade that performed regularly once a year in my neighborhood at Iremo in Ile Ife. Lobanika’s annual act was the highlight of the entire community, and we always waited with joy for the week when Lobanika performed to the delight of all and sundry
The Farmer of Colors
The Farmer of Colors
Harvesting a field
of chromatic linguistics
is akin to a dance:
first you must hold
your canvas like a partner
and place layers of
harmonious tinctures over
the picture plane.
