TITLED: THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY
A MASTERPIECE BY OMODAN TAIWO OLUWASHOLA
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When sickness plagued the land like a veiled curse
The gods of the land asked for salt and oil.
Akanbi took the offering to appease the gods,
He fell from the cliff beside the Iroko hill.
Broke his collarbone and death came second.
The gods must be crazy to call that health.
Bid me ne’er to eat a fruit of this awry tree,
Or to take a journey to the land that birthed it.
Strife and deceit are the dwellers therein,
Evil and pride, the unseen gods of this land.
That fruit called death from the seed of corrupt,
My living soul will it hurt if I make that move.
The gods must be crazy to call death, life.
When famine scavenged the land like a famished beast,
Even Ifagbare, the _Olori Awo’s_ fields laid barren.
"The gods are hungry and must be fed," they said.
This time around they wanted a heifer.
Adejare, the king's son, will carry the offering to the forest,
Only for a hungry wolf to feast upon him.
The poor boy forever lost in a canine's stomach.
The gods must be crazy to call this salvation.
They drank of the tree's fruit and dwelled in the land,
Its juice once tasty has now gone bitter and sour.
Their crazy gods beating their drums of terror,
For the inhabitants dancing in darkness, continuing its reign.
But the _Oba awon oba_ had sacrificed his son,
Delivering the land and the indwellers therein,
Breaking their chains, lifting the darkness,
Bringing them into a kingdom of life and liberty.
© Omodan Taiwo Oluwashola
Poetry Completion: November 22, Circa 2024'
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