of the chaos of the city, uncensored, the river calms me.

I become my parents, my ancestors, my gods. We dock,

a remote settlement. I stretch my pins, earthed, follow

my singing ears, Catholic hymns hybridised by drums.

A hilltop church, Indian congregation, holding

palm fronds. It is Palm Sunday. I hum from the door,

witness to one culture being orchestrated by another.

The past is gone, the future means transformation.

The boat’s horn impatiently calls me. I panic away.

To the riverbank, the jungle, the contemplation.

A RAINSTORM hammers Manaus, rivering streets.

I emerge onto concrete, wobbly, the quayside spinning,

my heart replete with time and hope; I locate a Chinese

eaterie, replenish my banana self on noodles,

await the dazzling sun to rainbow the Amazon sky

magical again. When the downpour abates, I head

for the waterfall at Cachoera do Taruma, descend

its slippery slopes, strip off, revitalised by icy cascades.

I am baptised, resolved to paint slavery out of me,

the Daddy People onto canvas with colour-rich strokes.

Their songs will guide me in sweaty dreams at night.

I savour living in the world, planet of growth, of decay,

think of my island, the ‘Great’ Tippexed out of it,

tiny amid massive floating continents, the African one

an embryo within me. I will wing back to Nigeria

again and again, excitedly swoop over a zigzag

of amber lights signalling the higgledy energy of Lagos.

It is time to leave.

Back to London, across international time zones.

I step out of Heathrow and into my future.

GLOSSARY

Some of the Brazilian/Portuguese words are Yoruba. All the names of the gods are Yoruba words which have different spelling in Brazil, for example, orisha in Yoruba becomes orixa in Brazil. Brazilian words with the letter ‘x’ are pronounced ‘sh’. Yoruba words with the letter ‘s’ are pronounced ‘sh’.