Contemplation on the Odu Odi Meji

As comforting as religious ritual is

It is simply the codification of

Something that helps us

Commune with God

To say that there is only one way

Or that the path remains immutable

Is sheer lunacy

Life has only one constant

Change

As the world around us

Evolves

We must not allow ourselves

To become stagnant

Like the still pond

Unchanged rituals and ideas

Breed disease

The moving river always

Finds it’s way to the

Sea 

Contemplation on the secret of Ofun Meji (eeepa odu)

I was told
To dance for joy
To give praises to God
Years passed and I felt nothing
Perhaps God did not answer because
I was not using the right name
I had to look deep within
To realize I needed
To find my own
Secret name
For God
It finally worked
So I must take my leave
I’m meeting a good friend for tea

Contemplation on the Odu Otura Okanran

Your eyes
Haunting pockets of ice
Hide the glacier underneath
A siren bewitching the simple
Hearts of men
I dislike that I have
Fallen under your spell
That I know under
Different circumstance you would have
Passed me by without a second look
Or even a first
Yet still I yearn
I’m trying not to judge
We are who we are
What saddens me is seeing the
Fissures in my own character that let me feel
Less than
I know the greatest wisdom sometimes lies
In the torn pages of forgotten books
That as the colors fade
The words remain
Revealing their true worth
Perhaps it is I that will haunt you
Perhaps I give myself too much credit
In the end
When we shed our skins
All that will be left are the words of a few
Lucky souls
Until even those become
Stardust

More Contemplations on odu Ifa Ogunda Irete

Be careful
Not to loose yourself
In an ideological fog of your
Own making
Shake out your rigid mind
Free yourself from the shackles of knowledge
Drink the wine of intuition
Until so drunk you stumble into
Truth

New review of my book "This poem called life"

So excited to have received these beautiful words about my book from a dear friend:

"The deep and endless wisdom of Ifa has shaped and inspired the beautifully thoughtful words of the poet Marcos Sanchez. May they guide us on our life’s journey….ASHE/ACHE/AXE! "

— Henry John Drewal (Ifasola)

Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thank you henry!! If you'd like to pick up a copy, go here: https://www.blurb.com/b/8256683-this-poem-called-life

contemplation on the Odu Otura Owonrin (otura alaketu)

When night has fallen
And you have lost your way
Embrace your fears and
You will see that
Once the clouds have parted
Only the darkness of night
Can reveal the wondrous beauty of the
Vast universe that surrounds us

Contemplation on the Odu Oshe Owonrin ( oshe niwo )

There is a certain beauty

In this bowl of soup

Steam floating in the air

Warning me not to be too eager

Lest my lips suffer

And my tongue scald

Depriving me of its sweetness

There is wisdom there

Giving me pause

Allowing the words to dance in the air

Unfolding this way and that

Like a child chasing bubbles

I bob and weave

Hoping to capture even one

Without shattering the illusion of its

Existence

Then there is you

The softness in your lips

The warmth in your hug

The sureness in your eyes

Are you my bubble

Or am I yours