Contemplation on the Odu Ofun Meji

Someday my bones will

Sleep

But not

Today

Today is not that

Day

Today I can still

Fight

My mind marches

Forward

Tired but not

Broken

Today I will keep on

Living

You won’t catch me

Today

Because I can still

See

A reason to live for

Tomorrow

Iwori Aweda contemplation on being

There once existed
A version of me
Full of life and laughter
Unapologetically loud
Dancing along the boundaries of
What is and what could be
Unafraid to explore every
Corner of the earth
Driving full speed towards
An unknown horizon
I miss that person
It happened almost imperceptibly
Little by little
Through the years
This place
These people
This America
Blew out his light
With its puritanical veil
What irony that both
Liberal and conservative
Smothered the flame
In almost equal measure
Two ends of the spectrum
Actually meeting at the other end
Of a circle
I grieve that version
Of myself
His light
His confidence
His fire
He would not recognize
Me in the mirror
It’s hard to blame anyone really
They likely all had other versions
Of themselves
Snuffed out
By their own
Trials and tribulations 

My heart stained with the bitterness
Of their criticisms and judgements
I sometimes think about what
In another world
Another place
Another country
That me
Would have become
It hasn’t been all bad
Life has had
Amazing moments
So many beautiful memories
But I do wish
That version of me
Could have experienced them
First hand
If I could speak to him
I would tell him
To not let the naysayers
The people who disliked him
Who couldn’t appreciate his flame
Diminish his spark
I would tell him to
Have the courage to leave his path
For one that might let him be

Contemplation on the odu Eji Ogbe (and marriage)

I am the one
Who has created this place
This world within
Filled with dreams of
What could be
What should be
So beautiful
So bold
So alive
A window into the very
Essence of my soul
Yet somehow
Whichever way I turn
There lies a mirror
That carries within it
A portrait of the world
As it is
Sometimes colliding
Sometimes reflecting
Sometimes creating
New versions of
My world
It is inescapable
This marriage
Between the world I want and
The world I have been given
For better
For worse
For richer
For poorer
Until death
Do us part

Contemplation on Odu Oyekun Ogbe

If you stop to notice
God
Is just a name for that which is
Unknowable
You might understand our
Common ground
We all agree that God is unknowable
Even the most devoted amongst us
We all agree that the Universe is unknowable
Even the most scientific amongst us
So why can’t we see that
As much as we are different
We are the same
Perhaps if we could
We would be able to
Listen and Learn
From each other
Instead of
Calling each other names

Contemplation for the times, on Oyeku Meji

Critical thinking is the 

barrier between 

freedom and submission

without it

we are destined to be 

slaves 

to those in power

More Contemplation on the Odu Iwori Ogunda (iwori aweda)

The unexamined life

Lacks the ability to

Clearly distinguish

Truth from illusion

Contemplation on the Odu Okanran Owonrin (Okanran Ajangbila)

To kneel and pray
Can not preclude
One’s ability to
Stand and think
When it does
We are inexorably led
On a journey into
The darkest corners
Of our being
Though they appear to be
Diametrically opposed
Belief and critical thought
Are the two sides of a mirror
That make us human
One side reflecting who we can be
The other who we are
True Religion
Is an ever evolving guide to
Navigating the path
From one to the other
Always requiring
Self reflection
Never
Blind following
Because the unquestioned life
Is no life at all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjzZ_0KSYVg&t=2s 

Contemplation on the Odu Oturupon Ofun

I am Lost at sea
Adrift in the currents of life
Thrown back and forth
In a small boat with no oars
Wet
Cold
Tired
Yet filled with
Determination
To get
Somewhere
This loneliness inside
Seeks the companionship of
Shore
A harbor from the world
Where Grace arrives unbidden
Where my burdens are shed
Like wet clothing to
Dry in the sunlight
A short respite before
I continue my journey
We all need
Rest
We all need
Safe harbor
Sometimes
Remember to leave your heart
Open
To be surprised by
Grace


Best read when listening to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7zV8gXmH14

Further contemplation on the odu Osa Ogunda ( Osa Kuleya )

I do not journal
The thoughts and ideas
That have taken roost
In my head
Instead I paint poems
Of birds in flight
Soaring across the
Expanse of my
Imagination
High above the trees
Observing the routines of men
The clothing changes
But the faces remain the same
Across centuries
Still struggling with
Life’s biggest questions
Slowing inching towards
Enlightenment
Even if it never comes
Only the raven knows
The secrets
Enlightenment does not exist
Time is the mind killer
Life is now
Live
Free

Listen to this while reading: 

Contemplation on the Odu Ogbe Oturupon ( Ogbe Tumako )

The depravity that can grow in the 

Human soul

Is often matched by the ability to

Dissociate from it
Thankfully
It is also matched by our

Capacity for love and kindness
What defines us as

Human

Is our ability to

Choose

To listen to while reading/contemplating:  

A new contemplation on the Odu Ofun Meji

We are all
Manifestations of our shifting perspective
Gathering data along the way
Changing priorities like
Clothes with the turning leaves
Nomadic shape shifters
Moving through time
To parts known and unknown
I will never be who I was
I can not know who I will become
Until one day
All that is left
Is a memory
In the minds of
Others
Flickering
As it too
Fades into
Eternity

Written to "The wanderer" by Max Richter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lmCgFA-GQs

Further contemplation on the odu Iwori Ogunda

I looked for god in books
But did not find it
I looked for god in people
But it was not there
I looked for god in stones
But they lay motionless
I looked for god in ceremonies 
But I could not see it
God eluded me
At every turn lay another
Dead end
Another unfulfilled 
Promise
Empty and without 
Answers
I sat alone
To watch the setting sun
Waiting for the darkness
To envelope me
As I looked into the universe 
Darkness gave way to a
Sea of sparkling lights
Dancing across the sky
It was only then
Confronted with the 
Insignificance of my existence 
That I was able to
Find God
It did not give me meaning
Or show my superiority 
Those are a fool’s vanity
I was left with a feeling of wonder 

Bathing in the sheer
Elegance
Of the infinite 
This is the
Divine
God is not a being
But the fact that we exist at all
In a universe of infinite possibility
I am in awe 
That I am
Here
That you are too
Is truly
Beautiful 

Inspired by Max Richter's "on the nature of daylight" https://youtu.be/b_YHE4Sx-08?si=1oWvqcDLFUvhYtG_ I recommend listening to the whole song. 

Contemplation on the odu Okanran Oshe ( Okana she )

It is the burden of
Working for another
To Carry the weight
Of their insecurities
Always at the mercy
Of shifting emotions
A benevolent dictatorship
Painted with a subtle
Veneer of democracy
Slowly but surely
Subduing all dissent
Leading to conformity
In thought and finally
Resignation
Excited workers become
Sycophantic drones
Quelling even the most
Creative minds until
The next crop of bees
Has entered the fold
And the cycle begins
Anew

Written while listening to: Pastoral by Christian Löffler 

Contemplation on the Odu Odi Owonrin (Odi Ojuani)

It’s late
The sun has set
Wind whistles through the trees
As I ready myself for the long road ahead
Tonight I travel to distant stars
Hat and scarf in hand
Satchel on my hip
I center myself
Before setting out
In search of
Awe
Is it all a beautiful dream
Or did I just read it in the pages
Of someone else's
Biography
It's no matter
The memories exist
Tattooed on my beating heart
Visions coursing through my veins
One experience after another
Ever expanding
In search of
Space
To fill with
New ink
New stories
New
Life

To read while listening to

Contemplation on the Odu Irete Osa

Events are almost never
Black and white
The more people you ask
The more versions of
What happened
You hear
Our brains can't help but filter everything
Through the sunglasses of our past
It's our super power and our disability
The trick is knowing which it is
In any given moment
In any given situation
Don't be a slave to your past
Try always to be a master of your future
Seeing things
Not for what they
Might be
But instead for what they
Are

Contemplation on the Odu Iwori Oyekun

I have a message for you
Said the Wind to the bird
Let me whisper it in your ear
I am the breeze
Teaching you to fly
I am the gale
Steering you off course
I am the storm
Challenging you to stay aloft
I am the stillness
Giving you rest
I am the teacher
A harbinger of yesterday
A historian of tomorrow
I belong to no one
But leave you with this
Thoughts become
Words
Words become
Actions
Actions change the
World
Give flight to revolution
It is the only way to fly

Contemplation on the odu Irete Odi

We are all broken
In some way
Chipped
Worn
Frayed
Sometimes shattered
It is Part of the
Human condition
Easily overlooked
In our quest for
Perfection
Only when we accept this
Truth
Can we begin to pick up the
Broken pieces
Restoring the vessel of our
Soul
So we might let our cups
Spill over with
Love

Contemplation on the Odu Okanran Iwori

I sit and wait
Patiently
Observing who you are
Until
Like water running over a
Mud caked statue
In time
Your true self is
Revealed

Further thoughts on the Odu Ogbe Ofun

Painted in slow movements across the night sky
Stars hurtle through time and space
Magnificent diamonds
Floating above our heads
Though we are so far apart
I wish I could pluck one for you
A gift of brilliance and joy
Bringing light to the darkness surrounding you
Look to the sky whenever things seem lost
Remember that we all share these
Beautiful shimmering lights that
Pierce the blackened sky
That I'm always here
That even in our darkest hour there lives
Light

Contemplation on the odu Iwori Ika

No matter how you try
You can not catch the crashing waves
Bend them to your will
Deny their existence
You can only look away
Secretly hoping that the pulsating rhythms
Never end
Never fade
Engaged in a delicate pas de deux of minds
Revealing more in the breaths in between
Than in a million words
A fleeting glance
A framed doorway
A gentle rain
Tell me you saw the birds
Gliding through the storm
Weren’t they lovely
Tell me you saw them so I know it wasn’t
Just a dream