Festus Iyayi,
agba akin*
to yaayi.**
The genteel activist
took a mortal bow
silenced by conniving Death
in a sirened drama
whose violence plowed
a gurgling path
through a heart
that can no longer beat
its constant cadence
of change
Iyayi:
ardent opposition;
barbed words
refined by civilised manners,
hurled in literary defiance
against a civilised terror
guised as the state.
Or worse: the Nigerian state.
Iyayi:
We will weep
and we will dip
our steely resolve into
the blood flowing from
the gash on the torn side
of uncowed justice.
Iyayi:
the silenced hero
took a mortal bow
forever detained by conniving Death
We will pause to mourn
..and we will await the next storm
Adeshina Afolayan
* 'agba akin' is the Yoruba word for a highly courageous man.
** 'to yaayi', is an attempt to pun Iyayi with the Yoruba term of affection. Yaayi loosely translates as one who has integrity.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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