ODE TO THE DRUM After Abdulkareem Abdulkareem; inspired by Odolaiye Arẹmu’s song
When the Gọ̀ngọ́, the drumming stick
poses for pockets, seize the mingy hands
from hearing its plangent sounds.
My grandpa will say: splash the drizzle
onto the skin and tenderly wriggle the
waists under the Iro and Agbada with
your Sákàrà. Say, drum is the bond
between the ears, the legs, and the waist.
Under the hut, while sipping palm wine
during the wiggling of the evening breeze,
a waist allured a beard, and a hand
smooched Ìyá Ìlù which enchanted the
leg and seized her from moving. Say, the
ear that hears what the drum is saying
shall uplift dust from the land.
I want to know whose head will not swell
like cassava flakes when the drum
voices out the beauties of his father’s
home. Whose body won’t react to the
drum’s words? The truth is: wherever
there is a drum, luxuries sit there.
BEAUTY, I LOVE
Written in parallelism using Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield.
I love
I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things
Like
I love the morning trek to school it really sets the days
To see the grasses stretch their fingers to the sun’s rays
I like how they dance and I like how they waft
But beauty, I must say I love they feel so soft
I love the way the grasses dance so soft
And
The birds they measure the length and width of trees
The branches wiggle to their flight
The sight is like watching fireworks on Christmas eve
Beauty, I must tell you I like the way they share love
I love nature the way it refresh breath
And
Pupils flung out of class
We’ve gained freedom from the cage—tiresome teachings
I like to hear the bell sound it straightens up our lives
I like to spread my hands on the swing like bird’s feathers knives
Beauty, I must say I love to play as education contrives
And
I like to stand at the bay
Seeing the sun smirk and the breeze sing
I like to see the awestruck sun
The morning dew is second to none
I love nature a lot, a whole lot of nature
And beauty
I love you, too.