Poem: Mami Water (goddess of Sea)

Mami water
The goddess of water
What is the matter?
You refused to give us water
We want to catch fishes
But you swallowed up our nets
And shackled down our hooks

Mami Water
Let us cross the river

To go and dance to the songs of masquerade
And celebrate the remembrance of our ancestors
But you have broken our paddles
And now nothing for us to row our boats
The gods are angry
Because you denied us passage

Mami Water
The Ifa says you are angry
That you claimed all your children are in our slavery
And that we have captured all your siblings
But we only caught fished to eat
And killed crocodiles for our safety
Or perhaps for our living

Mami Water
Ifa says you want sacrifice
And here we are early in the rise
To offer you a goat as sacrifice
You refused the goat of sacrifice
Here we come again with sheep, big in size
Yet you refused again to take the sheep

Mami Water
What else do you want from us?
Perhaps you will take an horse
But again you reject the horse
Only to say you want one of us
One of us? That, we can’t afford

Mami Water
What will you do with the blood of man?
I doubt if you will drink it
Or even take it to bathe
So, why request for man’s blood?

Mami Water
We only catch your fishes just to eat
And killed your crocodiles to save our kids
Now, you want the blood of a man
For us, we can’t do that.