Arise ‘O’ one-eyed snake sleeping in the calabash
My hair is let down
My body bare
And I am playing my flute
An enchanting tune
That you may rise from your slumber
‘O’ one-eyed snake
I have began to swish my hips from side to side
The air is filled with music
And I am calling out to you
That you may arise and dance with me once more
I fear that you may be seriously ill
Decapitated and dead
Cursed to condemnation
Suffering from the poison of another
You lay there weak and feeble
Not even able to raise your head up
Soon the chilly wind befell me
And took my melody away with it
Out in the cold
No one to hold
Finally I fell to the ground
I have surrounded myself with more calabashes
Soon I will be lifted up
And I will play my tune again
That another one-eyed snake may arise from a clay calabash
And dance to the tune that I play
Someone to hold
Gone with the cold
We will dance like we could never stop
Air filled with music
And when the wind comes
We shall sail along with it
‘O’ one-eyed
Ⓒ Nina Fabunmi 2016
ninartz 