Extratemporal Surfer
Title: Extratemporal Surfer
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
2021, 72′ x 80″
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Title: Extratemporal Surfer
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
2021, 72′ x 80″
The carpenter is singing as he does the roof:
Ẹ̀yin tẹ́ ń lóyún lé rodo-ríndín, hẹn-ẹn
Bọ́mọ bá yàgbẹ́ o
Baba rẹ̀ ní ó ko.
Translation:
You who conceive while your infants are mere suckling babies
When your infants mess their pants
Their daddies will change their diapers.
To the Yoruba Nation
There is a new vision
It is from Odu Irosun
And it advocates the IYEYE plant
Now listen:
We are now near the top of the Gbadi Hill
It is the tallest hill in the universe
So tall, its head is a pointed triangle.
Now the citizens of Iperi were hungry
They cried out from hunger and unhappiness
They were in pain for homelessness
They needed a savior
Who will protect the people of Iperi
A young stranger will shelter the people of Iperi
How many people can be really, really true friends?
Or is friendship restricted to just two people?
Is friendship possible among three or more?
First, Yoruba people are cynical about friendship: the culture outright dismisses the notion of friendship as naïve.
“Ọ̀rẹ́ òtítọ́ ò sí,” is an adage that means “There are no true friends.”
“Ojú larí, ọ̀rẹ́ ò dénú,” means “We see the eye service, but the friendship is not deep.”
Words matter.
Choose them carefully today.
Don’t use words to hurt others,
however good it might feel to hurt them.
Use your words to empower others.
Use your words like building blocks.
Words are worthy and useful only when you use them
to build a better 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.
Waiting to give a talk at a symposium at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL.