KOROBA (FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD)

Guest Writer: Oyin Oludipe

Koroba

(Dedicated to dear cousin Iposu Sallamah, and all girl children around the world)

Koroba

You shall often peel the fabled halo

On your lash, trail the heart among darker

Ripples your bowing runnels bring:

Deft tides they yield, of suppleness to time,

Toss charm to the air as shearwaters

The friendless surfs.

You shall often peel the fabled halo

In rings of shadows, daub a radiant indigo

On their pulse flagging: silent pools

From eye to eye swirling colours

Of sable transparencies, of luster unspoken

That usurps the pleasing mind…

With an eye. Oh yes, and with just a young flash

Of yours,

You shall daub a radiant indigo

You shall throw mist to the dust, Koroba,

With finger and tongue—denied of age, yet

Undying with marvels of

Romantic twilights, glosses and rifts hallowed

By dimmer lineages of the world.

They never broke these lean-to eaves, knew

Your plangent notes would come rebounding.

You shall throw mist to the dust

Koroba

Let me tell the bliss of a proud throng

Beneath the thatch; eager radiances

About the dim shutters girthed. And the

Roving world that halts to breach your dearth,

Drown the puzzled face but rise

To heights of your own poise…

I think you dare altitudes of the elders gone…

It all happened on those polite plaits

On your head, Koroba!

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The symbol of the 'girl child' is indeed sacrosanct, depicts the very indispensable pride that lurks in beauty and the joys of nationhood. Koroba is a Yoruba word - a kind of hairdo, dearly valued among young women of the tribe. As koroba bears honour on the feminine plait, so is this poem to honour the International Day of the Girl Child and every element that represents that female pride.

ABOUT OUR GUEST WRITER

Oludipe Oyin Samuel is a Nigerian poet, was born on January 5.