By Ilari Oba Adeola Fearon,
When we stand on the shores of destinyRefined by Divine understandingThe history of who we areWho we’ve beenWhere we’ve traveledRises rooted from ancestral soilWatered, nurtured, fertilizedOur every reaching tendrilHeld eager for sustenance
With honor we danceUpon this sacred earthOur ears hear the drumOf our becomingOur hearts are liftedAs offeringDivine wineCourses through our veinsOur heads lightWith knowingAs droplets of incantationCommune into every poreThe marrow is in trance
We greet the dayOn summoned symphonyRelease these your prophesied childrenTo walk furtherThan they’ve journeyed beforeTo speak wordsWhere truth glistens with meaningTo heal infusedWith the sanctity of graceTo sing sovereigntyAs true belongingTo feed multitudesThe bread that seeds unendinglyTo wash othersAs full offerings of gratitude
Adeola is an artist, sacred activist and life coach who practices Yoruba Traditional Spirituality. She is the author of Soul Whisperings…Messages to Activate Compassion, Chair of the United Religions Initiative North America Leadership Council, and Ambassador for the Charlotte Red Bench Garden, an interfaith Cooperation Circle of United Religions Initiative. uri.org Adeola serves as a catalyst to empower, restore dignity and raise consciousness by revealing our common connections. As a servant leader, she has a legacy of advocacy in interfaith understanding, humanitarianism, cultural preservation, arts education, behavioral, and mental health.
Adeola has served Charlotte, North Carolina, where she lives, through Leadership Charlotte, Mecklenburg Ministries, Arts & Science Council, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Communities in Schools, Center for Community Transitions, Charlotte Literary Festival, Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Advisory Board and various local community groups.
Poem and shoreline photograph © 2019 Ilari Oba Adeola Fearon
