KÒ SÍ ENIKẸ́NI TÍ N SO

Nígbà tí a bá bí omo 

wọ́n má kán oyin sẹ́nu rẹ̀,

ṣùgbọ́n kò sí ẹni tó sọ fún un pé,

ayé kì í dun títí,

ati pé pípé jé ìrújú

Òféèfé tí ń tú lórí ooru òtítọ́ ayé.

Kò sí ẹni tó sọ fún un pé,

ó gbọ́dọ̀ dà bí omi,

tó ń ṣàn láàrin òkè,

tó ń dá ọ̀nà rẹ̀ kọjá àpáta,

tó ń dákẹ́ rọ́rọ́ ní òkè,

ṣùgbọ́n tó ń ru bí ẹranko nla ní ìsàlẹ̀

Bóyá nítorí èyí ni àgbà ṣe ma n júbà òrógbó,

Láti dá ìwọ̀ntúnwọ̀nsì sílẹ̀

Àti láti kígbe ìrántí fún ẹni tí ó ríran

kí ó lè mọ̀ pé ayé jẹ́ oníkejì.

Tí ó bá sì ní ìmọ̀,

ó máa mọ̀ pé àsìkò tó ń mú aadùn wa,

a máa mú ìkorò dání pẹ̀lú

Nítorí kò sí ẹni tí a bí nínú obìnrin tí ó lè ṣàkóso àsìkò.

Tí ó bá sì fẹ́ pẹ́̀ tó bíi òrógbó,

ó gbọ́dọ̀ bọ̀wọ̀ fún àsìkò,

fún àyè, fún ayé,

àti fún gbogbo òfin tí ń ṣàkóso wọn.

NO ONE TELLS

(Previously Published by Umuofia Arts and Festival)

When a child is born, they place

a drop of honey in his mouth 

but none tells him that, life is not always 

sweet, and perfection is but 

a mirage – an illusion that sublimes 

under the heat of brutal reality. 

No one tells him that he must be like 

the water that flows through rocky 

crevices, charts its course along 

tumultuous terrains, remains calm 

on the surface but surges

like a roaring beast underneath. 

Perhaps this is why the elders pay homage

to bitter kola, to create balance, 

and to scream an astute reminder to

the one who sees, so that he can understand

the duality of life. And if he is wise 

enough, he might know that the same 

time which heralds sweetness, can also 

bring pungency. For no one born of 

a woman can tame time. And if he shall 

experience longevity after the similitude 

of a bitter kola, he must show reverence 

to time, to chance, to life, and to all its laws.