Ancestors resting in the veldts of the cosmos, Where
have thine eyes fixed their gaze? While the cloak
we, your children inherited, Frays and weds embers
of alien customs. When harmattan traipses into
every home, And lays its gelid kiss on the napes of
spinsters, Where shall they find a trusted
Alarina—the Divine intermediary entrusted to find a
consort? When Alarinas have yielded to the mulish
Force of corporate matchmakers and dating sites—
Rooting through profiles for shallow commonality—
Without the Alarinas’insight into familial heritage.
When my great-grandmother swelled and swirled
On her wedding day, in her fine Aso oke fabric, Her
lips had the honour of reciting the Ekun Iyawo: Our
ancestral bridal poem, marking the transition To
wifehood. By my mother’s wedding, there was No
fine Aso oke fabric, only the lace appliqué Of a
wedding gown, floating before a muddied train.
There was no honeyed recital of the Ekun Iyawo,
Only the superficial mumbles of Catholic hymns.
Shall I not inherit my great-grandmother’s joy? Or
Will my lips too not grace the fire of a bridal poem?
Ancestors resting in the veldts of the cosmos, Where
have thine eyes fixed their gaze? Our culture is
being engulfed in flames of Alien customs. Please,
send down your rains.
Aanuoluwapo Adesina is a graduate of Butler University’s MFA program in Creative Writing and the author of Emocean, a poetry collection published by Kraft Books (Nigeria) in 2016. He won the 2016 Nando’s Poetry Competition (Coventry, UK) while pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing at Coventry University. In 2017, his poetry was shortlisted for the Jane Martin Poetry Prize, and in 2021, his works were longlisted for the Africa@2050 Climate Fiction Competition, the African Writers Awards, and the Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature. His writing has appeared in Brittle Paper, ROPES Literary Journal, The Elevation Review, The Kalahari Review, The Citron Review, San Antonio Review, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, and other publications. He is the Founder and Editor of The Olugbon Review.