Àbí yóó wù ọ́ láti ka àkọsílẹ yìí lédè Yorùbá? Tẹ ibí
The starling that takes blessings to Olokun (The king of Ocean)
Don't take blessings to Olokun this morning, I want to send you to my mum.
My mum Ateteji (She who wakes up early), daughter of Onile-Ariwo (The owner of the noisy home).
Tell her that I'm asking about the people of the faraway land.
Did they give her a warm reception or did each of them frowned like the stranger's arrival is no one's business?
Did the boat of pain that ferried her to the faraway land turned back at shore or did it turn to a burdensome barrel that rolls after her on the hills of lonesome?
Ask if the dead see the living or will they be trapped in the darkness of the soils where we buried them for eternity?
Ask if souls separate from the body before it decompose or both are in sync in the grave's darkness - so the body that feasts on meats and bones could become feast for boneless animals?
My inability to find answers to these questions trouble me deeply.
It also leaves a deep wound in the depth of my heart.
The bee-eater that takes blessings to Olosa.
Don't take blessings to Olosa this morning, I want to send you to my mum.
My mum, Ateteji, the daughter of Onile-Ariwo.
My mum, Ateteji, who endures the cold of heavy rain to work in the king's farm.
The Ateteji that joyfully takes debt for her child to study till he reaches Cambridge.
Tell her that things have not been easy since the masquerade danced back to its temple.
I became a slave so I could relate with the king.
I became a peon so I could walk the path my mates walked without stress.
I became a load carrier at Akesan Market, so I can stand in front of the learned and claim that I am something too.
I looked back at the crowd that were promising on the day of her burial.
They were saying, "Young man, take heart. We are ready to take you as our own child."
I looked at the vastness of this world and asked the sympathizers a question.
I said, "If my life is in danger and your child's life is endangered as well. -
"Yet you have the opportunity to save one life and neglect the other.
Whose life will you sacrifice for the other?"
They all hissed irritatingly.
They said, "The high intellect of this child is about to run him mad."
But my mother will never call me a mad man.
With smiles and pride she would say, "Well done, child. No one is trustworthy."
I knew from that day that I lost someone who could lay down her life for me even if I am no one (Not a prominent person).
Can I blame them for loving their child more than they could ever love me?
I can say with pride any day that my mother did not love anyone more than she loved me.
Each of them are going back home to their children, but the one who will come for me will never come home again.
The bee-eater that takes blessing to Olosa.
Tell her that I still work in the farm she left me every night and day.
The suffering I face on the farm is not that painful...
Like the sorrow of knowing that the person who built this farm from scratch won't be able to eat its fruits.
The cattle-egret that takes blessings to the house of Ikefun (White Powder)
You won't be able to go to the house of Ikefun today because I want to send you to my mum.
My mother, Ateteji, the daughter of Onile-Ariwo.
Ask my pilot if she missed me.
Because I miss her everyday.
Everyday, I envy those who hear their mother's call and imprudently call her a nag.
I take a moment of silence every time I see a mother and her child holding hands as they walk the street.
Because I know I will never experience that feeling again.
Yet when I had it, It's a pity that I did not know the value.
If I had known, I would have held on to mother's hand.
So the warmth of her palm will never leave my heart.
Parrot, the bird of Iwo.
Your path does not lead to the Oba river this morning - because I want to send you to my mum.
My mum, Ateteji, daughter of Onile-Ariwo.
Tell her that I did not forget.
I did not forget the day she slept in hunger so I could get my fill of good food.
I did not forget the day she deceived me with her elderly wisdom.
So I could rejoice with all my heart, when she was nursing sorrow in her heart.
Parrot, the bird of Iwo.
I did not forget the day I promised to take my mother to the King's town.
I did not forget how she believed me even though she knew I don't own a cent.
I did not forget how I promised that no woman of this world will not envy her for the joy I would surround her with.
I did not forget because I couldn't keep my promise.
And that is why nothing holds value anymore.
The river in-between had risen.
The people from the other side can't hear the people from this side.
That is why I'm screaming out loud.
Perhaps the birds of the forest can take my voice across the ocean.
The starling that takes blessings to Olokun (King of the ocean)
Don't take blessings to Olokun this morning.
For I want to send you to my mum.
My mum, Ateteji, the daughter of Onile-Ariwo.
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