Brown earth, red ropes,
Tongues rolling, white robes,
Heavenly voices,
Hands joined, chants, cries,
Confusion.
**Ara orun ti t'ajo de
No sticks, no canes,
No palmleaves,
No masks,
This is not an *Egungun,
Then astonishment.
**Ara orun ti t'ajo de
Maybe its a rite,
Aimed at making things right,
Or a ploy,
To manipulate our minds,
Cowering in their diviness.
**Ara orun ti t'ajo de
The masquerades have come,
The masquerades have gone,
Were they really masquerades?
Celestial bodies in human flesh, bells, dances,
Then more confusion.
***Ara orun t'ajo de ntoto.
* - A masquerade.
** - The ancestral Being has returned.
*** -The ancestral being has truly returned.
Afolabi Boluwatife Oluwamuyiwa
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/white-masquerades/