I Sing & Harmattan Song & The Coin of Life

Recently I met the Nigerian poet Adelaja Ridwan Olayiwola on Facebook, and tonight I'd like to share some of his poems with you.  (He shares his poems freely on Facebook, so if you would like to read more of his work, you may go to his timeline to see what he is working on.  Many of his poems comment on Nigerian politics, so reading them may be a good way to learn more about this country.)

The picture above is of the harmattan, the dry season's wind.  Adelaja's second poem is inspired by it.  

 I SING

I sing the song of a land

where everyman is a patriot

and every station is a peacestead.

II

I sing of tomorrow

snail-slow like lullabies

soothing the pains of my people

petting the troubled children to rest.

III

I sing of change

like poets of all ages

calling from the

minarets of their pen

preaching peace from the pulpit

of sorrow-scattered sheets.

IV

I sing of hope

like a chorister

rehealsing the songs of a new beginning

humming without beats along the street.

V

I sing of a land

and I sing of tomorrow

I sing of change

and I sing of hope.

VI

I sing,

... yes, I will sing

...until diaries date my death.

My Harmattan Song

The cold 

and chill is here again

The skin 

is drying quick again. 

Gloss on 

lips I see again

Socks and 

gloves on men again. 

Lotions 

–no effect again

Sweaters 

come in vogue again. 

Leaves litter 

the yard again

Students 

pick and pick again. 

A.C is free 

for all again

The rich won't 

boast to us again. 

The haze is here, 

it is harmattan again

Let's play safe 

perhaps, to witness another one again!

THE COIN OF LIFE

Sweet and sour
Hard and soft
On and off
Tender and tough

Head and tail
Pass and fail
Short and long
Weak and strong

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Island and lake
Break and make
Up and down
Smile and frown

Left and right
Dull and bright
Front and back
Light and dark

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Come and go
High and low
Give and take
Real and fake

Fast and sluggish
Kind and fiendish
Nut and bolt
Sink and float

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Sleep and wake
Still and shake
Sun and moon
Ago and soon

Nasty and holy
Many and only
Home and away
Will and may

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Love and hatred
Rich and wretched
Poem and prose
Friends and foes

Stretching and bending
Rising and falling
Grave and cradle
Busy and idle

And on and on
Life tosses on!

---------

For your musical accompaniment, let's start with Stan Getz and Chet Baker's live performance of Sonny Rollins' "Airegin" from 1983:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkrLCxBzj_s

I also have the Miles Davis Quintet's version from 1954:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQxJCrGSLqE

To go with "The Coin of Life," I am adding Dorothy Ashby's "Life Has Its Trials" from her phenomenal Afro-Harping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar5y0QVEHrY

If you would like to listen to jazz from Nigeria itself, here is the singer Somi's performance in Lagos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W2o5yXPXXg

Another Nigerian jazz artist who has won international acclaim is the trumpeter Jumbo Aniebiet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alPHylDY7TA

Some of you may remember High Life, so here is the Ubo Jazz Band of Africa:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON3JZ-oles

Enjoy!