By Olanrewaju Oluwatosin (Segullah)
When goats are the ones that guard the yam,
And a cat watches over helpless rats;
Then fate is sealed, it’s glued-
Choices!
When a pedophile is left to nurse innocent minds,
And bitterness trains sweetness;
Then life is sketched, on the pads of frustration-
Etched!
Eni òkè placed Àgbonnirègún as a custodian,
But Òbàyéjé came with Elètàn,
And through their clandestine exhibitions,
The truth and sanity in our land vanished.
Asegbónkú became the new custodian
Of a land where innocence made you captive,
And sanctity made you profane.
Lies killed truth in a duel.
Àwèró’s blood cried out from the bed that defiled her.
But threats of kòlòkòlò, the culprit,
Sent shills down her spine. The land wept
As she was hanged from her beck to remediate her shattered dignity!
The Òbàyéjés connived with the rich.
The sweats and toils of Ará ìsáájú cried,
And in unison with the wailings of the Ará ìlús,
Formed the definition of the nation!
A land of gigantic dwarfs,
Flowing with poison as honey.
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Yoruba words used in the poem:
Ìlú Amúnisìn: land of the slave masters
Eni òkè: the divine being
Àgbonnìrègún: an ancestral figure in Yoruba mythology
Òbàyéjé: shenanigans
Elètàn: a deceitful being
Asegbónkú: an oblivious person
Àwèró: a female Yoruba name
Kòlòkòlò: the fox
Ará ìsáájú: the ancestors
Ará ìlú: the citizens
—Photo by Splashi via Pixabay