An Ode To Soyinkaresque.part 60

Here are three additional sonnets, pivoting from his mythic tragedies to his sharp social satires and his lush, evocative childhood memoirs.

Sonnet VII: The Lion’s Cunning (Ilujinle’s Duel)

In Ilujinle, where "the jewel" glows,

The "pompous teacher" wears his Western pride,

But Baroka, the "Lion," deeper knows

The "ancient wiles" that in the forest hide.

Lakunle’s tongue is "flowery" and thin,

A "shallow mimic" of a distant land,

Who finds in "bride-price" an "ignoble sin,"

Too blind to feel the "pulse" beneath the sand.

The "trickster Bale" feigns a "waning force,"

To lure the "vain and shining" Sidi near,

Till "logic" fails its "modernizing course,"

And "tradition’s roar" is all the village hear.

The "postage stamp" and "railway" are but tools,

For "lions" who must rule a world of "fools."

Sonnet VIII: Aké’s Pomegranate (The Parsonage Orchard)

The "Wild Christian" and "Essay" rule the gate,

Where "pomegranates" bleed like "scripture’s sin,"

A "precocious" child who dares to "challenge fate,"

With "Yoruba spirits" lurking deep within.

Through "Canon’s" garden, "ghommids" start to creep,

While "Stained-glass saints" and "Egunun" are one,

In "Aké’s" soil, where "ancient memories" sleep,

Beneath the "pulsing" and "mercurial" sun.

The "market women" rise in "furious might,"

Against the "Alake" and the "unjust tax,"

As "history’s ink" begins its "long-held flight,"

And "colonial chains" reveal their "festering cracks."

From "guava trees" to "Grammar School’s" domain,

The "seed of justice" flowers through the rain.

Sonnet IX: The Cult of "As" (Cannibals and Specialists)

From "limestone cells," a "darker vision" flows,

Where "specialists" pervert the "healer’s art,"

And "Dr. Bero’s" "nihilistic" shadows grow,

To "tear the conscience" of the world apart.

"Madmen" as "chorus" chant the "creed of As,"

A "cannibalistic" and "blasphemous" rite,

Where "logic" is a "shattered, brittle glass,"

Reflecting back the "internecine" night.

The "Old Man" seeks to "make the blind to see,"

With "Socratic fire" in a "charred" terrain,

But "power" brooks no "humanistic" plea,

And "patricide" becomes the "mark of Cain."

The "herbs are burned," the "maternal earth" is cold,

As "specialists" of "death" their "reign" unfold.

We explore the next set in his Theban plays (his adaptations of Greek tragedy) or perhaps his poetic sequences like Idanre.