CHANTSOF NIGHT- BY ÒGÚNYỌMÍ ISRAEL ABÍDÈMÍ

Come, cherub, come closer tonight;

At those hallowed hours after the beautiful

Night would have spread her dark canopy

Across the face of heaven, Come closer to me.

Come cherub, come closer tonight

When the garrulous nightingale would Be bothering nocturnal beings with the Whelming whistling of her sacred songs, Come closer to me

Come closer tonight, cherub, come closer, When day workers deeply snore

At the heart of night

Under magical spells of heavy dreams, Come closer to me.

Come, cherub, come; come closer tonight

When choirs of frogs with their inner megaphones

Ceaselessly sing choruses on rivers’ surfaces Till they leap voluntarily into fishermen’s nets, Come closer to me.

Come cherub, Come closer to me, When timid catfishes and tilapias Boldly swim to rivers’ edges

To masticate jocund tadpoles, hiding-and-seeking

In strands of spirogyras

And jolly earthworms crawling on solemn sands

Come closer tonight.

Come closer to me, cherub, come; When hungry pythons ambush

On smart trees to jumps suddenly

As rapists on grazing grysbok

And fill their empty tubes

With fresh and straightly stretched

Herbivorous fleshes, Come closer tonight.

Come closer to me, cherub, come; That we may lock with out

This old moon, which monitors our paths With a ceaseless flash of his jealous eyes Come closer to me.

Come cherub, come,

Throw aside your light pajamas and warm yourself

Under my polychromatic elephant’s skin

Come closer to me tonight.

Come closer tonight, cherub, Come, share the sweet Fragrance of my woody house Come closer to me,

Feel the coolness of my feathered pillow,

Come closer tonight.

Come closer tonight, cherub, come; That we may tutor ourselves Sumptuous secrets of dark night;

Come that we may commune as moderate popes

With magical spirits in our temperate temples; Come closer to me.

Come closer tonight; come,

Let me warm my freezing head

At the hollow pit of your clever cleavage

And entertain my nostrils with

The sweet scents of your soft skin; Come closer to me.

Come closer tonight, cherub, come; Come closer, let me with my soft lips Extract crude oil from your subtle face Come closer to me.

Come closer tonight, cherub, come closer, That I may dive deep and purify my sins

In the saintly mud of your sacred pool; Come closer to me.

Come closer tonight, cherub,

That I may join the chic band of bead

Around your waist, above the span of your hips, And sing holy hymns to your holy hymen.

Before the gentle golden sun Awakes Jonas at bare dawn, Come closer to me.

(Inspired by Don Williams’ ‘Come a Little Closer’.)