Supplication To Ondo Poem by Walter Abah

Ondo, beautiful garden of bright sun,
guarded by Idanre hills,
it is you I have come to,
across tribes and tongues,
as a messenger of my kindred.
to drink from the fortunes of your gods.

I shall dwell in the hut of Ogbeni Ugbe,
the warrior son of Ikare-Akoko;
I am sure he will offer me a gourd of dry gin
to quench my thirst and ofe-manu to oil my entrails.

At the first crow,
I shall seek the wise counsel of Babafakunle,
and offer four lobes of homage to Ifa,
to foretell our misfortunes.
At sunrise, I shall take four gourds of dry gin to Sango,
to seek the protection of thunder.
At dusk, I shall take four gourds of red oil and cocoyam seeds to Oruminya,
the earth goddess of fertility.

Ondo, beautiful garden of bright sun,
guarded by Idanre hills,
It is you I have come to,
forlorn and haunted by uya, ubiam and ajo onwu,
in my kindred.
Amadioha, has forsaken us.
Our homes are deserted.
Our women have run back to our in-laws
with our sons and daughters at their backs.
Agwoatulumbe, the great dibia,
slept and didn't wake up for four market days,
the foul air and flies around his shrine-house,
announced his misfortune.
By his death, the medicine men attending the Igwe, fled.
So was Otenkwu, the great tapster,
hung on palm tree for four market days;
with no breathe!
Tufiakwa! Ogini n'ekwodi ivenu?

Ondo, beautiful garden of bright sun;
guarded by Idanre hills,
it is you I have come to,
across tribes and tongues;
with the tears of a bleeding land.
May the gods of this land,
come to our aid.