PALM TREES- A POEM BY ÒGÚNYỌMÍ ISRAEL ABÍDÈMÍ

Palm trees! O palm trees!!
I’m jealous of your feathery crowns
To the east, then to the west, Elegantly and gently, they dance To the rhythms of whistling winds


Greener and greener, with new shoots and sprouts
They attend falls’ festivals of water
Dauntlessly fresh and smooth,
They shame drought’s heinous harmattan.


While other trees’ mouths, like uprooted cowpeas, Sorrowfully wither away in an insufferable thirst, Alert and active, you resist the pride of weather.


Akiika!
Ibi gbogbo igi oko gbe wo’we parako parako
Ope ko, Ope o wo’we:
Ati wo‘we olope, o dorun!


Behold these young sprouting palm-fronds! How pleasantly attractive they are to the eyes! Seasons have ridden upon seasons backs
Even as horsemen ride upon their horses
And Palm trees pretend as if they’re dying


Palm trees are not dying;
Lo, the sprouting fronds of palm trees! Palm trees! O palm trees!!
Your own heaven is different!


But why should the nature bother you with so much a task?
Isn’t it you that bring red oil into the world?
Isn’t it your womb that conceives palm nuts with shells
In their bunches?


Palm trees! O palm trees!!
Your heaven is surely different!!!
White whelming wine runs through your stem
As rivers of blood run through human veins


Kai…
Emu lemu ope laye!
Abi’to funfun lenu bi akuwarapa!


White wine – the joy of noble black keg-men! Your feathery fingers cover
The nakedness of Ogun
And their veins sweep-clean
Dirt and dusts –
Heinous enemies of our vicinities
Palm trees! O palm trees!!
What a priceless bundles of value!!
 

Comments

  1. Unknown6 August 2016 at 00:42

    This is an elating ode to a priceless natural companion! Deeply mystical feelings pervade the whole piece, itself designed like a palm tree. The words identify to the subject. Gorgeous

    ReplyDelete

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