o gba a giri l'owo osika (35)

o gba a giri l'owo osika

father of heaven,
to manifest abundance
give me the power!

eşu is about;
will stain my clean white robes with
palm oil’s penury.

deliver me from
languishing in şango’s jail,
bereft, forgotten.

let it rain cowrie
that i might take from the sky
what the sea denies.

my soul is a cup
that never fills; a parched poem;
b’emi ta afi.
(let there be peace in my soul)

my heart ever plates
an offering, an ebo
pleasing in yr sight.

father of heaven
inflate my flagging spirit
& see thru’ my eyes

please, oba igbo.,
clear my cochlear snail shells
& hear thru’ my ears.

push my will aside,
take hold my stammering tongue
& speak thru’ my voice.

do let the cowrie
shells drape me like eşu’s cloak,
chief of the white cloth.

© Joseph McNair; 2009