ABÓSÈDÉ

You are an African magic
With your beautiful eyes.
And with each motion of your head,
Your earrings beat a warrior's tune
Like the forest-song Tìtùbí sang
On her way to the battlefield.

Who has heard your voice before?
Soft syllables entwined in a sweet voice
That will put the enchanting voice
Of the mountain queens to shame.

Sometimes, when I am alone
And I say Abósèdé three times,
It conjures the tale of a woman
Who was born to rule
On the first day of the week
To witness the birth of a new season;
Her beauty was the talk of ile Ife
When the seasons was long or short—
Her ripe lips could sing the tribal songs
Of sacrifice, patience and love.
Her slim, but strong hands
Could prepare àmàlà with the precision
Of a woman who humbled her knees
In the presence of her mother—
Her songs that sounds like proverbs
Revealed the listening ear
She turned to the words of her father.
And when kádàrá finally shone on her
As she glides on the stream of esinmirin
She became a goddess to mankind.

Tìtùbí- An ancient African warrior.

Abósèdé - Born at the beginning of the week.

Àmàlà - An African flour, black or white in color.

Kádàrá - Fate

Esinmirin - An ancient goddess.

©Okunola Peace.