Débò Kòtún.

It is the smell of Abundance.

And the sound of Felicity.

It is the 4th of July.

Welcome to Liberty

And Freedom

And Equality for All.

But you are Black.

And I left.

It is the smell of Tear Gas

And the sound of Marching Feet.

Welcome to the Struggle, Brother.

Free at last.

But you are African.

And I left.

It is the homogeneity of Blackness

And the dissonance of Vernacular

Lamenting lost Majesty.

Welcome to the Motherland.

But you are Nigerian.

And I left.

It is the expectation of Greatness

And the frustration of Betrayal.

It is the 1st of October.

Welcome to the Armpit of the Giant.

But you are Yorùbá.

And I left.

It is the sound of Ritual Drum

And the incantation of Babaláwo*

Apotheosizing Òrúnmìlà*

Welcome to Yorùbá Nation.

But you are of Somewhere Else.

And I left.

It is the smell of the LAH-gus*

And the sound of the Ocean

Èkó Akéte; ìlú ogbón *

The land of the Few

And claimed by All.

But you are Kòtún.

And I left.

It is a joyful a cappella

Sweet voices of the Wives

My Father's, Serenading a Homecoming.

And the air is Fecund with Unease.

Welcome Home

But you are your Mother's Child

And I left.

It is the pain of Labor

And the joy of Birth.

It is the agony of Separation.

Welcome Back Homeless

My Sweetness

But I was merely a Vessel

The World is your Home

Ìpàdé wa bí Oyin o!*

Key to Yoruba phrases

Babaláwo - Yorùbá Diviner. The word literally translates into father of the sacred secrets

Òrúnmìlà - Yorùbá god of divination

LAH-gus - phonetic pronounciation of Lagos, the old capital of Nigeria, and now the country's commercial capital. The city's original name is Eko. The name Lagos is Portuguese.

Èkó Akéte; ìlú ogbón - Lagos, Akete; town/home of wisdom. According to Yorùbá conventional wisdom, Lagos is a place where people learn all, or at least some of life's major lessons.

Ìpàdé wa bí Oyin o! -- May our meeting be sweet as honey!

Débò Kòtún is the author of Abiku CA: Nepotist Press, 1998. He is working on his second novel, DaRos,a.