A Yorùbá poem describing the performance of a magical enchantment performed at a crossroads by someone seeking wealth and good fortune in life.
I am waiting at the crossroads
I look to the right…
Oluronbi
We were sent the following poem, a modern working on the Yorùbá folklore tale of Olúrónbí, by Oluwatoba Opemip who is a student of Adekunle Ajasin University in Ondo state, Nigeria.
Twice a union stroll a year
Even when these amulets of riches…
Prayers Uttered by the Zezuru at Mabwe aDziva
A prayer to Mwari (God) and the ancestors at a time of drought among the Zezuru, one of the groups making up the Shona people of southern and south-eastern Zimbabwe.
Tovela, our great father,
We have a petition for rain…
Incantation
The Yorùbá believe in Atunwa, reincarnation within the family. Yorùbá funeral songs such as Slowly the Muddy Pool Becomes a River and Where are You Now? incorporate the symbolism of loved ones returning in other forms. This poem is a grief-stricken Yorùbá prayer, inviting a dead child to be born again.
Death catches the hunter with pain.
Eshu catches the herbalist in a sack…
Where are You Now?
Another Yorùbá funeral song from Nigeria. (See also the poem ‘Slowly the Muddy Pool Becomes a River’).
The hunter dies
and leaves his poverty to his gun…
A Salute to my Ogun
Another set of praises for the Òrìṣà Ògún. Ògún is one of the most popular Òrìṣà, both in Nigeria and across the Caribbean and the Americas. Known as the god of hunting, iron and warfare Ògún is both a violent destroyer and a heroic leader who delivers strength and justice to society.
Now I will chant a salute to my Ogun:
O Belligerent One, you are not cruel…
