In Anticipation Poem by Chinonso Iroegbu

Thunder adores the earth goddess
Fill our barns
And do not hesitate when the crier calls
The earth counts our footprints
We who laugh at the cacophony
Of madness
Must recover the scattered
Cowries of antiquity lost in memory;
And prepare for the fury of the gods
But propitiation is our last resort.

Did we not ask this same question
During the festival of the spirits?
Beacons of anxiety are omens
Of earth's call.
We must prepare for the next arrival
Of the winged termites.
The chalk of sacredness has appeared
Drums of fire resonate through the air
As we anticipate the next reincarnation
Of the king.

Mourners should mourn the morning
While the spirits should roam the night
Dawn of dews, paradox of foes
Entwine not but swirl here
Snakes and the snake charmers
Sing to the river goddess whose
Wrath invokes the penalty of oblivion
Have you forgotten the oath of conquest
At the shrine of Aniabuo where slaves
Became servants of the gods?
Sing to the silent goddess that acts
When no one expects her ghastly moves.

Then anticipate the innocence
Of the sacred beginning
The dark covenant of a new beginning.