Written By: Odion Kadiri
To Abike,
The woman whom my drums beat for
And their skins dance to.
I have always played for you
Even In our childhood
When we skipped classes
To skip ropes
I always played with you
Even as we blossomed,
When you, with your calabash
And I, with your other calabash
Trekked from the river
I always played by you
Even in our youth
In the month of Igogo
When you joined the dancing girls
And I, the drummer boys
I always played to you
I remember
It was for you, and you alone
That I travelled miles to buy new goatskin for my sakara
And went to the local maker in the outskirts of Owu
To twist her pegs to pitch
For you alone
I adorned myself
In the finest Agbada of two layers
And purchased the finest of ewure
To meet you Baami
Oh, I remember
That you turned me away
And those who once danced
To the rhythm of my bata
And the whining of your egbe-ikun
Laughed at my disgrace.
But I didn’t mind
Even when you danced
Into the arms of another man
Another man from another land
I played for you
When you carried your ibeji
Omokunrin a’ tomobinirin
I played for you
So when you hear
That I ascended the mountain tops
And let free my lanky body
Down the valleys below
Like my bare hands
Landing on my snare drum
Just know
Abike,
It was because of you.
