Mine is with pen, paper and paint
My father’s was cement, shovels, knives and paint
Not but a thousand miles close to the tree
I am the black apple so loose it seeks to be free
You are now a man! Or so not?
Take a wife or many
Be as a cheetah, quick to put a child in her belly
Have a son, and have your neighbours call you strong
He cries your misery every night as you sing him a song
Oh! My son. You are now a man! Or so not?
The retained beauty of a wife explains her husband’s labour
Why your mother doesn’t dazzle much anymore
He who takes a wife obtains God’s favour
Son, not when her young beauty falls for squalor
But a man keeps the balance. You are a man! Or so not?
Omo to ni baba owun olaa.
Omo to ni baba owun olowolowo
Money is honour,
Money is the wheel of goodwill
But, you are a man! Live how you will.
But you won’t have to die to know how you’ve done
You will hear it all from the lips of your son
And if well, generations will make your name a song
Else, they change their surname. They bore yours far too long
A man bears it all and you are a man! Are you not?
About the Writer: Emmanuel Odunowo is an Artist, Poet and Photographer with a practically open view of life and relationship between people. He is referred to as a minstrel as his art is driven to teach lessons about life. Read some of his poems on Facebook: emmanuel.odunowo. Contact him via email: iam_emmanuel@outlook.com or emmanuelodunowo@gmail.com and twitter: @indesputable