Harmony

Once
when a tree was all there was to see
I saw her branches dance with abandon
in obedience to the wind
I saw her leaves drop
and die
and dance

The obedience of which I speak
takes life from the yellow
and breathes life into the green
Here, when the wind-master calls
your duty is to dance
till you drop
Dead

I ask a dying leaf
“why do you keep dancing to this senseless tune of death”
he responds, still dancing,
“at first I sought the path of defiance
but age has since taught me
that the wind is a master that one must not resist”

Death comes to a tree in many forms
the way it stalks her branches
and yellows her children
You see death in the way a tree responds
to the ruthless call of the wind
We have learnt to welcome death with open arms
towards things that matter
even to those that exhale us life

But
despite the wind and the death it brings
I look at this dancing tree
I see hope; togetherness
Siblings
old and young, green and yellow
dancing
mourning
the final moments
before gravity comes for its own

I see green
I see death

But first
I see harmony

— Ajibola Shodipo, 2018.