Secret Passenger

 

Èrò Ọkọ̀ Àṣìrí - Secret Passenger

Riding life’s journey on this London train 

Stoic glass panes exposing the sprawling global village 

This empty compartment housing my lone silhouette 

Embarking on my true destination: meeting family, friendship, delight 

Wheelsets soundly spinning towards smiles, hugs and Yorùbá greetings 

Linguistic isolation whilst stationed north 

Familial interactions compartmentalised within Èdèkiri code 

Changing semantic tracks within one household 

Melding English A, B, C with Yorùbá tonal dò, re, mí 

Family knowledge embedded in secret lexical and grammatical melodies 

These word platforms bonding Yorùbá mothers, daughters, sisters near 

These communication carriages connecting Yorùbá aunties, nieces, cousins far 

Now stationed south, closer to Èdèkiri codebreakers beyond family circles 

I head towards an opus of fun dialogues and cultural exploration 

Vocal toot-tooting, basking in community and identity…chugga chug faster ọkọ̀ ojú irin a.k.a. train! 

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Riding life’s journey on this London train 

Impending reunion excitement meets freshly evoked curiosity 

A melanated family quintette joins my secret compartment, filling blue vinyl seats 

The whooshing winds now supporting their vivacious voices sharing compartmentalised truths 

Family mirth, workplace triumphs, neighbour botheration…in my secret language! 

These unperceptive Èdèkiri encoders talk freely in my presence 

Their stimulating tales evoke a stationary dance behind my eyes 

A passive passenger in their dynamic Yorùbá vehicle. 

As they stir life conversations in different directions, diverse and divergent 

My bilingual brain joins this free incidental road trip navigating new life pathways 

Eagerly eavesdropping in plain sight on my oblivious trustees 

To remain perceptive, I remain receptive…but almost stamp my own ticket 

With a glance…then a look…then staring back and forth at my lingual artistes 

A smiling Ìyá-aged lady meets my wandering gaze, her own silent thoughts booming, 

‘Aa-aa, ṣé “Ará Gẹ̀ẹ́sì” yi gbọ́ wa?’ a.k.a. ‘Ah, does this “Brit” understand us?’ 

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Commandeering life’s journey on this London train 

I am indeed a silent passenger in their business, a linguistic stowaway 

Syntax pickpocket, semantics robber, knowledge thief of ‘stolen’ banter. 

A privacy fare dodger intent on evading capture, I avert unsmiling eyes 

Adorning a mask of ‘unrecognition’, greedy for more attention from my mother tongue 

More Yorùbá musicality flows from my personal quintette of trained concert conductors 

Ear satellites scanning for more coverage from mouths tuned with tonal precision 

My performative tone deafness to these everyday rhythm of life lyrics now more convincing

Muting my gaze to stay on track for more announcements in my secret lexis with 55 million+ speakers yonder 

Granted through exclusionary hubris, fortified with perceived Èdè Gẹ̀ẹ́sì language barriers 

Págà! My Èdèkiri FM easy listening derailed as brakes slow our locomotion 
For once, why did a London train have to fulfil its timetabled arrival? 

I decompartmentalise as I disembark, heading towards my original Yorùbá familial destination

 Happy for this unwitting warm up act beforehand, and wider accessibility in the global village

A joyous train of thought reaching the end of the line for this èrò ọkọ̀ àṣìrí a.k.a. secret passenger!