Tide of the West

So subtle, So virile,

So turbulent yet liberal,

Thy tidings is of a better future,

But thou has rubbed me off my culture,

Tide of the west;

Thou the better of the rest,

Thou came with iron fist and chain;

The heritage thou carted away is our bane,

My ancestors religions are lost,

My dialect now dead and rust;

Our earth has shredded away her treasures,

To feed thy games and leisure's,

Tide of the west,

Thou has taken us far from our nest

Our ship now harbor’d on a shallow coast

Our tradition to this generation is a ghost;

O’ tide of the west,

Still thou is the best;

Not like such that unguardedly kills,

Still I will always choose thee,

Can thy tide be gentle and mild?

Let it bring more relief to our yuletide,

Those rustiness that comes with its breeze,

We will ignore and accept thy bliss,

(Poem: “Tide of the West” by Olorunleke Odubote)