Mo níní Mo níní

Mo dèjì Mo dèjì

Ode to the fairy, calm and fiery… fly fly

step step… counting legs, changing paths, playing parts

one journey many walked

different and familiar

life life… merging one

missing. flailing. kicking.

building. making. growing. knowing

Mo b’árúgbó kan lódò

Mo ní ó bùnmí lómi mu…

tornado raging

wiping down, drowning sounds

pulling up, drowning shouts

In peace, soothing, calming, cooling

choose the terrain, to restore or deviate?

Ode to the screams we drown

Rising on the tides of chests

Only to fall at the shores of lips

Ode to the smiles we find

enriching laughter, rumbling like storms

laid to rest at the edges of the eyes

Ode to the fears we bury

6 feet under the heart’s surface

Covered in the sand of stories

waiting for the revelation in time

Ode to the life we live

Incredible yet mysterious

Curtains ever lifting

a reveal of one: both the audience and the lead

Flush cheeks or orange face

Are you the jester or are we the fool?

© Taiwo Odumala 2023