A poem sent to us by Oluseyi (Macaulay) Akinbami, asking what awaits those members of the African diaspora who return to the lands of their ancestors?
When You Return
Sojourner to far-flung climes;
When you return,
Will you remember the evening songs
Chorused by chirping under the baobab tree?
Will you still remember the fame of the great hunter
Whose courage put the forest sprite to flight?
Earning him the most beautiful virgin in the land
When you return,
Will you remember the fable of the wraith
That forced our forefathers away from the farm at dusk?
Will you still dip your hands in “Aro” to make “Àdìrẹ” for our dear mother?(1)
Will you?
The market still a beehive of activities
Every market day is as rustic as you left it,
Our women the same, untainted by the new ways
Our men have not also faired any better,
Still suspicious of the innovations of the town people
Our children are not ashamed of showing off their beauty for the world to see,
The harrowing cries of our virgins still pierce the night,
As they fall under the mutilators knives
Will you still remember how to savor “Iyan” (2)
Pounded with the sweats of the maidens and
Molded with “Egusi” from earthenware? (3)
When you return,
Will you not now be repulsed with “Ila” (4)
That soup which you handled with such mastery with “Amala” (5)
The leaves from the forest still keep us strong and virile,
Their medicines have not offered any hope to all our ailments,
When you return,
Teach us not new things about our Land
O sojourner,
When you return from the distant land of subjugation
That dungeon that robbed us of our cultures and creeds.
by Oluseyi (Macaulay) Akinbami
Footnotes
- Aro is the source of the indigo-dye which is used to create Àdìrẹ cloth.
- Iyan: A paste for food made from Yam.
- Egusi: A soup made from the melon seed.
- Ila: A gelatinous soup made from Okra.
- Amala: A paste for food made from Yam flower.
