Niyi Osundare Poems

The Lion stakes his claim
To the leadership of the pack

But the Antelopes remember
The ferocious pounce of his paws
...

Deep green, my testament, as I forage
through this forest of vanished glories,
my memory one shell of naked echoes
...

The moon is playing hide-and-seek
Behind the clouds. A mellow smile
Lingers on the lips of the sky
...

I stay very long in the river
And I become a fish
With a head made of coral
And fins which tame the distance
Of billowing depths
...

In the Beginning was not the Word
In the Word was the Beginning


Unwind the wind
...

Some days know
the secret leaning of the heart

their auricles are acres of clay
watered by the kindest dew
...

I looked round for vendors of my own past,
For that Hall where, many seasons ago,
My Continent was sliced up like a juicy mango
...