Ibadan
by Toluwanimi Obiwole
auntie grows ewedu in the backyard
Ibadan is a handful of lemongrass boiled with rainwater
the purest form of my father I know
here, he smiles in love letters to old girlfriends
runs his fingers through the rusted gate of his elementary school
and we all breathe easier here
the generator is twisted into ivy breaking through the brick of the outer gate
the red dirt marks everything
coats uncle’s pressed suit
grows into your blood
follows you the way a souvenir cannot
this is unconquerable land
wildflowers have overtaken the old foreign tire company
your sugar does not grow here
I’ve never met a land that rains like your grandmother bathing you
scraping with wise hands in a tin bucket
this is where I want my bones rested
where the sun is always showing off
where poverty is just another word the British made up
where the melon vines stretch eagerly up to our urging hands
Here
We are familiar with laughter
The way America is familiar with debt
We live
Loud and up close
Off-grid
Off-schedule
Here
We
Know
How
To
Live
Toluwanimi Oluwafunmilayo Obiwole is a Nigerian-born, Colorado-raised multidisciplinary artist, healer, educator, and organizer. She was Denver’s first Youth Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2016. Since then, she has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies and has toured and performed nationally. In 2016 Obiwole co-wrote and co-starred in a play called How I Got Over which was featured at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. In 2017 she was announced as one of The Root’s 25 Young Futurists. She was a member of SLAM NUBA from 2015 to 2017 and was co-director of the organization until 2019. In 2017 Obiwole was awarded the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award by the University of Colorado Boulder, as well as the Black Excellence Award by the University’s Black Student Alliance. She served as a board member for the city of Denver’s Commission on Cultural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. She is a two-time TEDx Mile High speaker and the author of three poetry books: OMI EBI MI (2015), How to Become a Lightning Storm (2017), and HONEY (2018).
