From a dead distance I hear
The cry of a bouncing baby
Waah…waah…waah…waah
Cracking the drum of my ears
Iyabo has given birth again
Friends and family rushed
Down with great euphoria
The boon blessing of Olodumare
Has befallen them again.
I saw the tears and happiness
In her eyes and so we
Sang and clapped while
Children danced in circle
Believing she would stay
But that same night she left
Like the rising sun thus set.
Iyabo cried broken restless
With sorrow powdered face
Gnashing teeth like a drunk
Screamed until her voice
No longer heard by the spirits.
She laments in swollen silence
Durosimi, Malomo, igbokoyi all
Stollen by their cold hands
Now Durojaiye what have I done?
Ese ti iwo ko wa sile?
Oduduwa…ooo..oduduwa!
Idi ti ri ayo ninu mi omije?
Bi o gun yio i ibinuje?
Bi childlessness di mi igberaga?
Ese ti iwo laaye emi to
Suckle lati mi kokoro?
I could hear the chattering
Sounds of babies truiphing
As they reunite in the grooves
The jungle sings in deep silence
And the iroko tree danced
To the rhythm of the spirits.
Baby defaced with a cut
On the face, ears, and fingers
Leave my children alone!
He said, they have no connection
With you and the underworld
Why not wrestle me rather than
Succkle the blood of my children?
When you go tell them while
They sit and fold their arms
Their children are swallowed
By spirits without remorse.
Few months past in time
Olodumare blessed them
Again, with the same gender
And the same marks hmm
Dead but reborn into the hands
Of same parents osah lumbua!
Rites performed to unshackle
Her from those beyond the eyes
We celebrated in pains confused
Weather to smile nor cry.
Hope you have come to stay
And never shall you return
Let the smiles on our faces
Be permanent and may you
Grow healthy and strong like
Your fathers the priest said.
And she was called kosoko!
There will be no hoe to dig grave.
Indeed there was never hoe
To dig as she survived death!
Written by: Ikoromasoma Emmanuel
About Me
I am from Rivers
State and a native of Okirika. I attended New Era Brilliant College Borikiri,
graduated of Rivers State University Port Harcourt were i studied Office and
Information Management. I did a certificate program in Uniport in the
Department of Theatre and film Studies. I love writing, dancing, and sport. I
fell in love with poetry in my secondary school days and ever since poetry has
changed my life.
State and a native of Okirika. I attended New Era Brilliant College Borikiri,
graduated of Rivers State University Port Harcourt were i studied Office and
Information Management. I did a certificate program in Uniport in the
Department of Theatre and film Studies. I love writing, dancing, and sport. I
fell in love with poetry in my secondary school days and ever since poetry has
changed my life.
Contact Me
Mail: [email protected]
Phone Number:
+2347063254607
+2347063254607