The glittering beauty
Of their five-star condos,
Attractive,
Like the adorning waist-beads on a dancing woman
Their skin like the fresh yellow of expertly peeled
paw-paw
Others, like the chocolate brown of
Ground coffee
All glistening and shiny.
Skin that never have tasted
The salty water called sweat
Except perhaps,
After a bowl of hot Amala…
Ma binu ori
Oh! The emptiness in their laughter
The shallowness of their lives
The pretense
And the richness of their pockets
The deceit on their tongues…
Their indulgences
Make others cling to them
To have a taste of their ‘perfect’ life
Ma binu ori
Who can?
What we are, are
Hearts that ask to be held,
To become quills
And spill forth roses of red ink
But like the still portraits
Of a playboy model
We always capture the mind
Not just the eyes…
Unlike they.
Ma binu ori
How can we?
When like the Navajo woman
Weaving at a loom, we create art
Art that transcends generations.
Like Sages,
We are the memoirs of lives yet to
Be lived
Ma binu ori…
They’ve charted their course
Let’s chart ours.
For it has already been fated.
Ma binu ori…
*ma binu ori* is a yoruba saying meaning “don’t be angry at fate”. ‘Ori’ could also be ‘destiny’ depending on context of usage. I sure hope I got the translation correctly. If not, I’m sure you can help out.
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taiwo odumala @queenzayta
I simply love reading and writing, mostly poetry and narratives. I hope to travel the world someday as a UN ambassador, knowing I got there through hard-work and determination. I also hope to share with you my world; the one inside my head.Go to taiwo odumala's profile, and read more of his/her posts.
Nice…We are the memoirs of lives yet to be lived…I like but then you are living the life Now..Well done QueenZ
@bubbllinna…as a popular saying goes “the best of our lives are yet un-lived”. So I believe there’s more of ourselves we are yet to see. Thx 4 liking the poem though, I’m honoured.
I think this is about the rich and how vain sometimes their lives are; the beautiful and how fleeting their looks are…
And we writers..the custodians of the truth, the ones who tell stories that else will/can never be told.
This is beautiful. Well done.
@seun…you are right, how vain our world.. Thanks
This is really cool and thoughtful.
@queenzayta, you’re a fine poet. I really like the flow of your poem, and the message too.
@eletrika…thx dear
Good stuff!
Coooool. Coool. Really coool. Ma binu ori. You write well.
@gooseberry…thx dear, I jst love that refrain “ma binu ori”
Cool. You can do better.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this. Every time I see this poem, I always wonder where the words come from. I appreciate your comments and I’ll do my best to not fall below the standard ‘m
Ma Binu Ori’ has set. @rasheed…I’l sure keep trying to be better
This is your turf @ zaynab…Keep blasting from the mouth of your pen.This is beautiful!
Thanks @sambright, I’m happy you like it. I’ll keep it up and continue learning.
Thanks fror sharing, I liked this. Wondered what the title meant, it’s great that you provided that at the end.
Touché…
You wrote this well. I think you’ll do romantic poems even better. I don’t know why I said that.
Nice poem though.
This is a nice piece. The end is superb for me. Well done!
@myne whitman…since not everyone understands Yoruba which is the language of the phrase, I felt it would be easier for readers if I supplied the meaning. Thanks for the comments..
@jaywriter…romance poem? I rarely write that. But now that you’ve mentioned it, I’d give it a try. I just hope I can get that write.
@ablyguy…thanks, I appreciate and I’m glad you liked the end.