Decay Dence Poem by Morakinyo Temiloluwa Bolarinwa

Whether in the rough Kijipa
or rather appareled of blazing red Alaari,
wombiliki is still a human,
a mere mortal; given to all basic Id.

he is certainly not crazy,
even a madman with a hoe
would till the soil towards himself,
and didn't the elders say
"it is where one works that one eats",

one's daughter's buttocks wouldn't lay bare
so one could bead someone else's,
everyone is a thief when the sun goes down,
and if one journeys far enough,
he'd certainly see a hunched Squirrel.

What then stops the farmer from
selling all the tubers in his barn? ,
or stops the treasury King from
soiling his ten fingers in continuous feast? ,
are they afraid of eating the yam of a
tomorrow they may not see?
are they afraid their fires may lack embers when its time of death comes?
are they afraid of the ringing laughs of
dishonour when the due rains return?
or for their names, the linking cord of the
dead, the living and the unborn.

What worries have the King,
a palace burns only to renew its beauty,
or put the populace in debt, whichever one,
so he may feast till his ancestors knock
and substitute him with another.

What worries have the Farmer,
if unable to be Oba, one should at least
beat Eba to submission in one's stomach,
life is short, the road to death even shorter,
all men are forgotten, ask Solomon, all are,

what stops wombia from devouring the earth?
aponle, iyi and the thousand ends of the omoluabi forbid,
taxes, riots and the infrastructure levies of modernity forbid,
all belong to this earth and the living,
all end for a man with the man.

* Kijipa - a rough hewn traditional material of the Yoruba noted for its toughness. It was a favourite clothing for the common folks as it could last for years with tearing. It's wearers were frequently stigmatised as lazy.

* Alaari - a crimson coloured traditional material worn in the past by Yoruba rich noblemen and women. Many of its wearers were usually stigmatised as privileged and spoilt.

* Wombiliki/Wombia - terms of derogation generally used (separately or together) by the Yoruba people to refer to a greedy person.

* Oba - Yoruba term for "King". It is sometimes said to be a combination of two words, "O" a Second or Third person pronoun (depending on intonation) which can mean ‘you', ‘he' or ‘she'(Yoruba language has no gender prejudice) , and "Ba" a verb which can mean ‘rule', ‘dominate', ‘control', etc.

* Eba - A common meal among Yoruba people and many other ethnic groups of Nigeria and other African Countries. It is a usually a fine solid ball made out of Cassava flakes stirred with water (hot or cold) . Due to its ease of preparation and relatively cheap ingredient, it is a popular meal amongst the common folks.

* Aponle - A Yoruba word which may be roughly translated to ‘Respect'.

* Iyi - A Yoruba word without an actual equivalent in English. It encompasses the being and viewing of oneself with prestige, as well as a general sense of innate reverence for a person by the society borne out of the extraordinary conduct of said person or the repute such a person has accumulated for himself. The closest word I ever found for it in English, with regards to genericism, is "Honour".