This poem was inspired by the drama AJANTIELE, which describes the love affair between Kuye and Betiku. The play was adapted from ORUWO written by Azeez Micheal (Ajakaye) and performed at the OBJ hall, Adeyemi College of Education on 17th December, 2015. I had to do this poem to describe my first theatre experience in Ondo.
KUYE AJANTIELE
Fear and anger faced raced down his veins
Anxieties of defeat consumed his marrows
His overgrown muscles sought freedom from reins
And cold sweats crawled downed his spine’s narrow
Was he to bow to dictates of fate?
Or fight the horror imposed on him
Abject gloom clouded his bewildered state
And his panging heartbeats began to dim
Was he to celebrate his presumed peculiarity?
Was he the definition of his circumstantial name
If iku (death) could pass over his head in totality
Why would his lack not trail the same lane
Just then her fingers caressed his uneven skin
And her ripened breast rubbed his scoliotic back
Her whispers and songs ravaged his ears and therein
To warm his soul and conceal his lack
Then the man in him rose and his face brightened
His impoverished soul resolved to defend its love
And though doom spelt and lightening threatened
He was prepared danced to the gongs of AJANTI ELE
