a post showing Moyo OKediji art piece

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.

a picture showing moyo okediji sitting next to his artwork

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.”

a picture showing an art piece of african ifa definition drawn out by Moyo Okediji

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?”

a picture showing moyo okediji sitting next to his artwork

ÈRE

ÈRE My mom transitioned today and she is now an ancestor.She drew her last human breath today, this morning.My baby sister, Banke, informed me, “Maami left at 3:53 pm.”I knew she was departing. I was ready for it.