Ojo ni ibadan (rain ni ibadan)



Now the tide has come,
Our barns will be filled and orchards bloom
Engagement lists cheaper and more maize whistlers,
With our very God given cool interruption from the heat

Yes the tide has come again,
May it sweep clean and wash our filths away,
We do not have fountains so we wait on you,
“Careful now how you block my way,” says Òjò.

Have we not heard of your exploits?
You limbless, wavy, mighty which shakes foundations,
Houses doff their roof top hats in absolute submission,
And great men with you are swept off their feet.

Did we not hear of the eighties' and the year eleven,
How fleets ceased and flowed in your torrent,
Great oaks mourning, reluctant to bow,
Were brought to their knees, never to stand

Fathers separated from their children,
Amateurs and experts forced to race in a borderless pool,
Without safety kits nor guards in view to rescue,
And mothers only content to find bodies of their loved ones.

And what have we learned of your dealings
We still wait on you to bear our dirts
Whithersoever you will, so long as it is far away
And still we pray for safety from the tide

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Submitted on April 06, 2017

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:00 min read
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Quick analysis:

Scheme XXAB XCDC XEFB FXXX FXDE XACX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,091
Words 203
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

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