Nuptial Steps

Shortly seeking to take you As a witty in-law, I am in anticipation. Do you vow to: Love and to cherish Keep your sweetheart Free of bruises? Hold her in Sickness and health In wealth and poverty Till death do you part? My sister and her family Come as one parcel We sell not our daughters To men of the night. The night of your cross-over The scorpions that sit on the road Will be cursed! The witch that holds the fallopian tube Banished The broken plates Packed with a flourish! That night of your celebration I’m rebuking the okra That will not draw In Tosan’s pot (tafia!) Cursed be the palm oil That will not whiten When bleached Cursed be the tangled bedspread To trip your legs On your mattress! Together, the gods will unite In your case, We shall blow the horn Of joy On that beautiful day. As I eagerly seek to take you As loving in-law I am in haste!