Toseph: A Household of Four Names

Toyin Falola

“Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day” – William Shakespeare

Shall I compare your home to a summer’s day?

Because it is warmer,

because even the sun learns tenderness there.

Joseph stands at the threshold

as morning enters softly, like a patient orchestra,

and evening sits without hurry on the laps of chairs.

His hands understand the language of doors and promises.

Storms knock, but do not enter

when love is the answer to every question.

Toyin, your name drips sweetness into the hours

You are the river that learned patience from stones.

You are the smile that teaches the clock how to slow down.

You are the one tomorrow entrusts with its secrets.

Sade, first dawn on a newborn road;

You arrive like harmattan light.

You are the window left open in summer,

where soft winds bring music from far places.

Funmilayo,

You have thrown the house into

an ocean of endless possibilities.

Where shadows gather,

You open the curtains and call it morning.

If the world ever asks who you are,

Tell it that you’re a family built from names

that remember each other;

a lineage drinking from one cup,

learning how to be together every day.