RAINDRUM

by Professor Niyi Osundare

Osundare’s poem to feature in London Olympics


In a letter to Professor Osundare, the organisers disclosed that his poem will be on display in the country and aired in a special broadcast series by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to celebrate the hosting of the 2012 Olympics by the City of London.

Responding to the selection, Prof Osundare expressed happiness that the selection of poems from around the world is part of the celebration of the Olympics. “It is a lesson for the rest of the world. While it is important to run and jump, things related to the mind and culture are also important,” he said.

Raindrum

The roof sizzles at the waking touch

Talkative like kettle drums

Tightened by the iron fingers of drought

Streets break into liquid dance

Gathering legs in the orchestra of the road

Streets break into liquid dance

Gliding eloquently down the apron of the sky

A stray drop saunters down the touch of my remembrance

Waking memories long dormant under the dry leaves of time

Of caked riverbeds and browned pasture

Of baking noons and grilling nights

Of airless cornfield and tired tubers

Then lightning strikes its match of rain

Barefoot, we thread the throbbing earth,

Renewed

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