THE EGRET - BY OGUNYOMI ISRAEL ABIDEMI

The sky abounds, spans

Beyond rivers and lakes;

The Egret a-flight, searches

For the epilogue of the stretching sky.

If a bird bothers not a bird,

Fly, they would on the high-tracks 

Of the wind without clashing wings.

Lekeleke, ta si mi,*

Lekeleke, ta si mi;

Mun dudu lo,

Mun funfun bo wa le;

Ni woyi ola oo ti dele...

Unsullied, the Egret's ennobled silk

Throughout decades of royal livelihood:

Where the Egret whitens his gown,

The wretched partridge is oblivious of.

If a bird bothers not a bird,

Fly, they would on the high-tracks 

Of the wind without clashing wings.

Lekeleke, ta si mi,

Lekeleke, ta si mi;

Mun dudu lo,

Mun funfun bo wa le;

Ni woyi ola, oo ti dele...

© Ogunyomi Israel Abidemi

*

O Egret, spot on me (my nails),

O Egret spot on me (my nails);

Take the black away,

Bring the white home;

By this time tomorrow,

You are home...

NOTE:

We sang this song repeatedly when we were little (waving our hands to the sky) whenever we saw Egrets on flight. We believed they purified us by sprinkling some whitish marks noticeable on our nails, usually after the exercise.