AJEGUNLE
Akeem Lasisi
Although strangers mock you
Your earth breeds icons
Your sky is a garden of global stars.
Loathed and loved like salt mixed with fart, Ajegunle
You wax in needs and potential wide
You do not flaunt the affluence of Banana Island
Nor attract the expensive applause of Magodo bulls
But in the complexity of your social chaos
White pap rises with glee from blackened pots
Your boy rules at Watford
Your girl is our saviour on the Olympic pitch
Ajegunle,
Please play for me galala, your ageless genre of let-them-say
Play for me galala, play for me gololo
Play and play me galala-gololo
But after every carnival
Cleanse your heart, renew your dreams
School your children and tender your wards
For although your name spins jeers
Your earth breeds icons
Your sky is a garden of global stars.
(First published in Phenomenal Lagos: 50 Monuments from the Centre of Excellence, by Akeem Lasisi and Kabir Garba)
