Alupayida by Niyi Osundare

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I stay very long in the river

And I become a fish

With a head made of coral

And fins which tame the distance

Of billowing depths

I stay very long in the fish

And I become a mountain

With a mist-cradled crest

And feet carpeted by grass which

Sweetens the dawn with its glorious green

I stay very long on the mountain

And I become a bird

With a nest of polyglot straw

And songs which stir the ears

Of slumbering forests

I stay very long with the bird

And I become a road

With long dusty eyes

And limbs twining through the bramble

Like precocious pythons

I stay very long on the road

And I become a cigarette

Lighted both ends by powerful geysers,

Ash-winged firefly on nights

Of muffled darkness

I stay very long with the cigarette

And I become a clown

With a wide, painted face

And a belly stuffed to the brim

With rippling laughters

I stay very long with the clown

And I become a sage

With a twinkling beard

And fables which ply the yarn

Of grizzled memories

I stay very long with s-i-l-e-n-c-e

I become a Word

- - - - - - -* Metamorphosis