Demographical Sonnets.part four

Old Oyo

City in Nigeria

Oyo-Ile: The Cavalry's Heart

Upon the savanna where the grasses lean,

The Alaafin’s horsemen rode with iron spear;

An empire vast, in robes of royal sheen,

That filled the surrounding tribes with holy fear.

From Old Oyo, the laws of state were cast,

With military grace and strict command;

A golden age that seemed destined to last,

Across the reaches of the Yoruba land.

But civil strife and jihad’s sudden breath,

Reduced the palace walls to silent mound;

The mighty capital met a quiet death,

And left its ruins on the hallowed ground.

Though grass now grows where royal stables stood,

The empire’s name is etched in hardwood.

Nri

In forest glades where Eze Nri ruled by grace,

No iron sword or bloody war was known;

A priest-king’s hand blessed every clan and race,

From a divine and humble earthen throne.

The Yam Spirit was honored in the field,

And taboos kept the tribal balance right;

The land itself would grant a holy yield,

To those who walked within the spiritual light.

Oh, ancient Igbo source of ritual power,

Where bronze was cast in ninth-century fire;

You grew into a quiet, sacred flower,

Above the reach of common greed’s desire.

The oldest peace in all the southern wood,

Where gods and men in gentle tandem stood.

(Sonnets 6–25 continue to explore ancient sites like Igbo-Ukwu, Daura, Katsina, Zaria, Borgu, Ngazargamu, Owo, Ijebu-Ode, Ilesha, Badagry, Lokoja, and the lost ruins of the Nok civilization.)