Short Yoruba Poems

Ololade mi is from the South West
A descendant of Oduduwa from the Yoruba cradle Ile Ife.

Ololade is owambe personified
Amala, ewedu and gbegiri a gourmet of choice.

Ololade mi is adorned on her facewith tribal incisions
Ololade mi is from Modakeke, in Osun State...

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Black is Gold
Makinde Adebayo Adeniyi

Speak 
your culture
Wear
your language
Profess
your art
Own
your shadow
Love 
the man in the mirror 

Don't 
change a thing
Black is gold
I am omolúàbí
Omo k'aaro o jire

Footnote: 
Omoluabi - responsible person 
Omo k'aaro o jire - Yoruba...

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You were the first 
To speak to herbs
And make the ailing cured.
The greatest healer known to all
Like ripples, your fame 
Was far spread.

Olubikin! Olubikin!
Heed the elders' call—
Bitter fruits are not sought by bats.
For honey— bees are hunt.
Flamboyant plumage 
Will attract hawks.
Success is a curse.
...

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Time is different in its fulfilment 
Yoruba status is unique in its path
Western education isn't enough reason to activate its abandonment 
Black soap is good for bath 

Worthy is informal education 
Which equips the brain scans 
I am made unique in its adaptation 
Well enriched in the history of my clans 

Face of the earth 
Mask of heaven 
Ritual to death 
Done in seven...

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Yoruba proverb 
An old saying 
Words of the fathers of fathers 
Incentive of the wise spring of ancestral vales 
The word is just so original like a laconic phrase 
Expressing a basic truth 


It find lost words
What an helpful morpheme
An obscure saying, but
So rare in the mouth of the youths
For they should be acquainted to this colloquial, for that 
Old is coming for them soon....

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With its longevity as that of a man,
Free from its Earthly tether
The glance of its eyes chilled  the sun
Shadowing and altering wind.
Wings taller than trees
Talons toughed as rock
The peaks are its abode
With speed, its swoop and snatch
Soaring in strength
Shimmering cliffs that brightly shine
Maneuvering  menopause,
My name is Idi

                                                                               Awoh Awoh

*idi means eagle in Yoruba, a language spoken in South-West of Nigeria...

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It wasn’t easy turning away from you
Sure like the sun rise
Is your love

Upon my bed I groaned
Sacred vow I made
A budding pal we appeared
Until nature's verdict played
Like Haiti earthquake
My guards shattered
A glowing dream muffled

Upon my bed I groaned
Sacred vow I made
A wave of pain I bore
Sighting you in anguish
Another traumatic jilt 
Repose far from my being
Your sonorous voice I heard

Why did you leave?

*TEMINIKAN* is a pet name between lovers meaning MINE ALONE in Yoruba language...

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