ORO NIYE (I)

WORDS ARE WORTHY (I)

Words are my freedom
From day to day
Words are my wanted friends
Words make my day

Words are my freedom
From day to day
Whether amidst a thousand fiends
I am bold to say

A word banishes boredom
As darkness by a ray
Words are a beauty when in trends
Dispelling gloom and fray

Words own my kingdom
And keep my foes at bay
What a word means or portends
Make my spirit gay

Without words is serfdom
Minds mute as hay
Without words the world bends
And wisdom falls away


ORO NIYE (I)

Oro ni ominira mi
Lati ojo de ojo
Oro ni ore ti mo n wa
Oro ni mu ojo mi pe.


Oro ni ominira mi
Lati ojo de ojo
Iba se laarin egberun ota
Mo le fi owo soya so

Oro a ma le ki nkan su ni danu
Gegebi okunkun pelu itansan orun
A mabi ibanuje ati ija

Oro lo ni ilu mi
A fi ota si eyin odi
Itunmo oro tabi aroko re
A ma mu okan mi yo

Eru ni laisi oro,
Okano di bi koriko gbigbe
Aiye a te laisi oro
Ogbon a subu danu

This poem is a translation of Dr Seyi Adigun's poem from Bard on the Shore, 2005.

Thank you Dr Adigun for the permission to publish.