DIFFICULT PRAYERS
DIFFICULT PRAYERS
Iya Oyo mumbled a growl to the greeting, when a neighbor said, “A kò ní rí alákǒbá o.” It means “May we not be the victim of a saboteur,”
I said, “Iya Oyo, you did not say Àṣȩ” to that man’s prayer.”
MEANINGLESS WORD
MEANINGLESS WORD
“Food is not ready,” Iya Oyo informed me. “This is just a snack. I know you are hungry” In Yoruba she said “Fi eléyìí panu. Mo mọ̀ pé ebi ti ń pa ẹ́.”
She left me a bowl full of boiled groundnuts. I loved boiled groundnuts. It was still in the shell. “You can throw the shells here after cracking them.” In Yoruba , she said, “Pa èèpo ẹ̀pà ná à sínú abọ́ yìí.
HARD BODIES
HARD BODIES
I called one of my former teachers, and he picked up phone.
he is 80 and it is always fun to speak with him.
KỌ́LẸ́Ẹ̀JÌ ONÍGBÁMÉJÌ.
Professor Adeleke Adeeko has used my recent painting for the cover of his new book, titled KỌ́LẸ́Ẹ̀JÌ ONÍGBÁMÉJÌ.
It is a translation of Femi Osofisan’s book, titled CHOLERA COLLEGE.
Professor Adeeko teaches at Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
TEETHING TROUBLES
“Come here and swear, you this adult, that you never were a troubled youth,” Iya Oyo said, when I told her the story of my friend, Gift Krani-Rijal. Her comment is a Yoruba proverb that says, “Àgbà wá búra péwe ò ṣe ọ́ rí.”
Being young is probably the most dangerous thing anybody could experience.
Ọ̀rẹ́: Friendship
Ọ̀rẹ́: Friendship
“He is my ọ̀rẹ́ (friend),” I told Iya Oyo, after Kola left.
Iya Oyo did not look too pleased.
She didn’t ask me for any explanation about Kola, but the way she eyeballed me after he left compelled me to offer some information about Kola.
Ẹyẹ: Bird
Ẹyẹ: Bird I told Iya Oyo that I was scared when a couple of birds perched on top of the large tree in front of the house and were making loud sounds, one calling and the other responding.“You are afraid of birds?” Iya Oyo asked me.“Yes,” I said. “My playmates told me they are witches, àjẹ́.”
Let There Be Peace
Let There Be Peace
A smile is the building block of every nation.
Laughter is the greatest mason of the community.
Please show us the peace you preach so loudly.
ÈDÈ as Who We Are.
Iya Oyo says language, èdè, is everything.“Do you know the meaning of language, èdè?” Iya Oyo asked me.“It’s what we speak, isn’t it, Iya Oyo?” I replied.“Yes, and no,” Iya Oyo instructed me. “Èdè is what holds us together. What is the meaning of dè?”
Ọ̀SẸ́ ÒTURÁ: THE ROLE OF WOMEN
“Baba Oyo,” I said one afternoon when I was alone with him, “you are very soft, too gentle, with Iya Oyo. You are not like all the other Baba I know.”
Baba Oyo laughed. “What does too gentle mean?”
“I really don’t know how to say it,” I said. “But you don’t…. When you talk with her…. You don’t argue or order her to do things. You speak softly. It’s as if you have to persuade her kind of. That’s not very manly. That’s not how the other Baba talk to their wives. Is it because you are a pastor?”
The Apomu Border Patrol Officer.
The Apomu Border Patrol Officer.
It was Iya Oyo who told me about the Apomu Border Patrol Officer.
Iya Oyo said, “When extended to the limit, when you have reached your breaking point, when you cannot go any further, you know what to do?”
A gigantic library has erupted in flames.
A gigantic library has erupted in flames.
There was no digital archive.