NOW THAT DREAMS ARE BORN

Hear her voice…in whispers
(excerpts)


YOU HAVE COME

i

Set out before dark clouds
Gather in the eyes of the sun
For you shall pass through paths
r
u
n
n
i
n
g
in roses and thistles
On a thousand crooked bends

Set out with your basket of hope
To gather wealth s c a t t e r e d
in the heart of the earth

Omo mi t’o nlo s’oja
Do not scatter the shrimp and gather its shell
Do not trade the seed to buy the leaves

Set out my child through fallow lands
And fetch abundance from the bed of the sea.


iii
…echi di ime

but ogboo told me that I am the mystery born of the spirits
unfolding on each waking pulse of time

mubuwa
a lone child of twin destinies who has wrestled with demons
in hollow valleys and thorny dungeons


mu bu onye ma uwa m
that is why I won’t be lost in the bazaar of twinkling vanities
where men hawk the priceless wares of their souls

O mu bu onye ma uwa m

…how then can tomorrow hide mysteries in her womb
when I am the seed already born


…where is paradise?

Paradise comes to watch us
as we learn the ride of life
on the ascending hills
bruising the knees
and yet standing tall…