NOTES ON THE METAPHYSICS OF CREATIVITY (PART I) a note on the metaphysics of designthe design of a building should not bea mere translation of program intouninspired if functional spatial agglomerationthere has to be a central theme:a major idea that seeks to celebrate an aspectof siteor lightor climateor programmatic requirementor materialor technologyor spatial relationsor geometryor […]
IN MY HEART (For Aba) MORNING SONG:My heart is closest to youin this dark hourof morningMy heart rememberspulling threads of memorythrough shadowsUntil I think I see youcurled under soft quiltdreaming of me and God* EVENING SONG:My heart is closest to youin this bright hourof eveningMy heart rememberspulling streamers of laughterthrough sorrowsUntil I know I see […]
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN “The back is bared!”“Aha!” Then shoot!”“Beat!”“Mock!”“Jeer!”“Destroy and pull the hair!” You wrote the stage directionsin a plot of script;collected royalties;danced its liesacross a dim-litcryptedcyclorama Hungry claws applaudedlaudedcalled for moreencores;manacled leeredyou bowed Did you not read the Scroll?The writing on the wall?Hear the prophet’s call? Ask not for whom the curtains […]
INVITATION come into my parlour,said the spiderto the fly;never mind the cobwebs,just come in and don’tbe shy;find a wealth of gourmetto suit your palate’schoice;let not my smile deter youor the silence of the noise face it —this is heaven,leave the air’s thick fog,and rest;enter my conditioned netto bask indelicatesse come into my parlour,said the spiderto […]
AGBADO Sweet AgbadoLoveliest fruit of the rainy seasonStrictly loved by young and oldThe joys of southernersThe happiness of northerners. Come a field of CornHow often do I love to see you comeThe green, oblong leavesArranged oppositelyAre all inviting features. Some love it boiledOthers prefer it toastedOnly one for pennyYoung and old surge round the sellersLet’s […]
A SONG FOR ARO I okro of mine i plantmy maize in the farm bloomsgoat of Aro the okro eatswith maize Aro’s ewe its hunger slakes.ask him me what i do wrong! II goat that visits Arocommutes with the gulletsheep that knocks Aro’s doorthe vanishing trick elects. III Aro,husband of the townthe towncrier’s terrorshooed behind, […]
OMO-TUNTUN (NEW BORN BABY) Here I comeInto this worldA strangerThe mystery of this placeI know notThe sweetness and bitternessTo me are newOh! ‘Olodumare’, I prayFor protection, throughThis vast oceanIn search of progress and greatness ’Sanmi-Ebora Ogunjobi EDITOR’S NOTE Source: Archiving (Nigeria Magazine, Sunday, March 1, 1970).
ALL LENGTH IS TORTURE I began without seeking to findEase comfort and worldly pleasuresBut when they come by measuresI began to revel with an easy mindIn what greed and avarice unbindTo let loose what my yearnings bred.I had hoped in vain to treadA true path and mind the slopeBut vanity and worldliness flanged my scopeAnd […]
PRESCRIPTION The fire which sizzled the haze of myth, burns thelegendBurns the prided palm: which taps the wine oftraditionThe enemy of our history. The fire which carpeted this land, on the leasing of herfreeholdDestroys the nursing womb: which breeds heryoungA land faded from the past. The bullet which shattered the range of her long historyTriggers […]