A Forest of Flowers

O hearken to the silence, The silence of the forest, Beneath the fronds and branches, Lies the echo of our footsteps. With whispers of the winds, Time ebbs softly at our feet, We are mere travelers, wanderers In a sacred grove of life.

So rise, sweet petals, arise, In a dance with the sun’s embrace, In each bloom a story sings, Across the vastness of this land, Where nature cradles all living things, And roots of our ancestors, Spring eternal, in the earth beneath.

— Wole Soyinka

• Wole Soyinka