OUR RITUAL WENT SOUTH
(WRITTEN IN AN ECLIPSE OF XENOPHOBIA)
our ritual went South
when night drew her breath,
and like a soulless apprentice
possessed by a dearth of light,
you drew your matchete –
on shared hearthstone,
our earth’s splintered kola nut
in a flash
took strange flight and
transfigured itself into shrapnels –
Moons ago,
I offered magical portions
robed in carapace
in spite of eternity’s cruel, destabilizing hiss
to douse your shackled tendon
but alas, from your sore, dark mantles
of blood have arisen, like satanic crickets
to vanquish the canebrake
of our blended spirit –
now, like a phantom invoked by
petulant shadows,
a whistle of death billows
from the reddened straw of wine
we sucked in unison
for earth’s boundless yield –
still, our ritual went south,
your feathers mimicked talons,
fear’s dye consumed your coral vision,
and anterooms of our hour’s rebirth
caved in and shook the future –
what has crept into you, omo ìyá?
here I slouch, dead and gone
by the incantation of your blade,
my concern still as rock-hard as my blood –
how may I rid you of death’s
perennial yoke?
our ritual went South
when night drew her breath,
and like a soulless apprentice
possessed by a dearth of light,
you drew your matchete –
on shared hearthstone,
our earth’s splintered kola nut
in a flash
took strange flight and
transfigured itself into shrapnels –
Moons ago,
I offered magical portions
robed in carapace
in spite of eternity’s cruel, destabilizing hiss
to douse your shackled tendon
but alas, from your sore, dark mantles
of blood have arisen, like satanic crickets
to vanquish the canebrake
of our blended spirit –
now, like a phantom invoked by
petulant shadows,
a whistle of death billows
from the reddened straw of wine
we sucked in unison
for earth’s boundless yield –
still, our ritual went south,
your feathers mimicked talons,
fear’s dye consumed your coral vision,
and anterooms of our hour’s rebirth
caved in and shook the future –
what has crept into you, omo ìyá?
here I slouch, dead and gone
by the incantation of your blade,
my concern still as rock-hard as my blood –
how may I rid you of death’s
perennial yoke?
AN ODE TO THE ABODE OF SELF
Here, as in heaven
Here, as in the harem of the dozen,
As in primal clouds doused by leaven
Here - my flaming soul, God's coven of breath -
as in drifting tributaries of peace,
As in deathless chandeliers of lightning
Hung aglow by bell-ringers of fate,
As in celestial flutter of rainbow tassels,
Unbound by time, and chance,
And the pace of ages.
Here - my heart - as in broken cages,
As in bludgeoned river shells
Whose rupture is only a consummation of new paths
And the shredding of reins.
Here - my tongue - as in dew-jewelled slivers of ancient palms
Submitting to joyous winds
When the rest of the world lies deep in pain
Here - my eyes - as in the guiltless glint of stars,
As in the tinsel of copper pods in harvest,
As in the fleece of spirit moons
Divining tides of sap in roots
Here, my being, rested
Like amber pastures,
Still straits...
Here, as in heaven.
Here, as in the harem of the dozen,
As in primal clouds doused by leaven
Here - my flaming soul, God's coven of breath -
as in drifting tributaries of peace,
As in deathless chandeliers of lightning
Hung aglow by bell-ringers of fate,
As in celestial flutter of rainbow tassels,
Unbound by time, and chance,
And the pace of ages.
Here - my heart - as in broken cages,
As in bludgeoned river shells
Whose rupture is only a consummation of new paths
And the shredding of reins.
Here - my tongue - as in dew-jewelled slivers of ancient palms
Submitting to joyous winds
When the rest of the world lies deep in pain
Here - my eyes - as in the guiltless glint of stars,
As in the tinsel of copper pods in harvest,
As in the fleece of spirit moons
Divining tides of sap in roots
Here, my being, rested
Like amber pastures,
Still straits...
Here, as in heaven.
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BIO:
Oyin Oludipe is the recipient of the 2016 Christopher Okigbo Prize for Poetry.
He graduated from Babcock University.
Oyin Oludipe is the recipient of the 2016 Christopher Okigbo Prize for Poetry.
He graduated from Babcock University.
