THE CREATURES OF ELÉDÙMARÈ by OLUTAYO JOY OWOJUYIGBE

THE CREATURES OF ELÉDÙMARÈ

Amputated windowpanes, never would close
Retreat I must into the sovereignty of the insecticide-treated net

Cellules within cellules
Sinister atmosphere
The night of the angels of doom.

Like the night of the killing of the Egyptian firstborns
The caliginous atmosphere is pregnant with mourning
Oh! My soul longs for the coming of the next morning.

Sound of spontaneous claps from the people of Ilé-ifè
Moans of affliction and tears of the ancient mammalians
Paint a horrendous picture of invading aliens.

A nightmare of terror
Darkness with horrendous horror
Forceful tenants swarming on legal occupants
Including the gods and idols of our forefathers.

The trust of the skin is betrayed by the night
As it welcomes these strangers into our world
Flying aliens from the grave of Sir Obafemi Awolowo.

The tenebrous darkness from on high
The deafening whispers of the night
All together make an awful sight.

Haunted day-to-day, darkness in every cellule
Royal bodies swaddled like Egyptian mummies
All looking silly like bloody dummies.

One more, two more, three ànkárá wrappers
The aso-òfì that spans from the feet to the face
I hate to say are nothing but a redundant waste.

Mosquito-proof garments in this part of the planet
Only arsenal for the night’s onslaught
Impotent defence of treasured dark and mullatto skins against flying aliens.

The imminent war of the night
Conjure the mind with an evil impression
Must I weep again for oppression?

Lost in the shadows of time
The sun refuses to lend its light
My God, what a night!

The metal pot is adorned
With dainty potato spud
But the strangers only feed on blood.

I wish to trade my tender skin for the mottled shell of Ìjàpá Tìrókò
And I envy the snake that sheds its skin
Monstrous red spots on my youthful chin
A souvenir from the bites of the flying beast.

The acrid odour of the mosquito repellants
Its charm like a hallucinogen
An ultimate act of perfidy.

The stranger hums the songs of horror
In search of another noble victim
And buries its diabolical proboscis to suck blood like an evil colossus.
Mógbe o! Which kin creature be this?!

Streaks of the morning light
Daybreak creeps on brutalized skins of the people
Aftermath of the winged terrorists attack
Princes stuttering out of cellules
Dulling effects of previous night’s fiasco

Our elders say, “Only a mosquito would make a nice man slap his neighbor on the cheek.”
The Ifá Priest says they are the curse of the gods on every citizen
Mosquito — the dread of every indigene.

Cunning as a lustful damsel
Swift as the mountain gazelle
Riddle of the Elders
Unsolved mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
Creatures of Elédùmarè they are.

OLUTAYO JOY OWOJUYIGBE is a 500L medical student of the University College
Hospital, Ibadan. She believes in immortality via writing and she loves to write
about mysteries. She is currently working on her first novel.