I whisper praise songs to Oshun,
Iya Mi Ile Odo.
My mother's house is the river.
I follow the river's eternal path, traversing its grassy shores
in search of familiar signs:
The domed huts of the Western Bantu
The fortresses of Great Zimbabwe
The Fon, The Yoruba, The Ashante.
I close my eyes, beckon the ancestors with my thoughts.
Tracing bloodlines through millenia…