Home.

Íbo ni lé?

(Where is home?)

Home is green.

Rainforests and rivers.

Marshland and molluscs.

Savannahs and shrubs.

**

Home is white.

Rice and stew.

Pap and àkàrà.

Yam and eggs.

**

Home is gray.

Rust and rats.

Mosquitoes and soak away.

Gutters and spirogyra.

Ibi orí ńdá ni sí làán gbé.

(We make new homes where our paths lead.)

Home was riling.

Convoluting.

Imploding.

**

Underneath, despair simmered.

Spurring plans in favour of relocation.

Driving emigration.

**

Ashore, hope peeked.

Easing the discomfort of transplantation.

Renewing motivation.

Ilé làbò sinmi oko.

(Home is our place of rest after a laborious day at the farm.)

Home is shape-shifting.

Recreating itself as life’s seasons change.

As the world becomes a global village.

**

It preserves itself in the intangible.

As the unsullied substance of nostalgia.

And the forlorn muse of wistfulness.

**

It continues to host endless possibilities.

Expanding its vistas.

Fusing fatherland with greener pastures.