Deity, oh Deity!

Deity drank whiskey

Deity loved to drink whiskey

We also heard, that he was a whizkid

Once upon a time, Deity got a tattoo

And everywhere, there was hullabaloo

He also loved women, had them so many

They filled his shrine, ‘specially if it was rainy

Deity joked on us, very cruel jokes they were

One could never be sure, to love him or to fear

Deity drank to stupor, was inspired by the bottle

When his anger did pour, it never could be throttled

Around these few themes, did his life always revolve

When we sought it out, we found that’s how they evolve

Toyin Taiwo (c) 2016

Author’s Note: Around the world, there are thousands of deities, whose worship involve drinking of alcohol and patronage of prostitutes, and who exhibit sporadic bouts of anger in the midst of endless jesting and revelry. While some of these deities are dead, many are still living.

Now, read the poem again.