Every last Friday of the month before the sun goes down,
the hooded stranger with his magical drum comes to town,
he arrives without hoots and whoops, unlike the blue clown,
his face never seen, his skin hidden under the long black gown.
The stranger sets his drum in the center of the deserted market place,
and begins the same dance ritual, each time starting with a slow pace,
the drum gradually pick up, reeling out seductive rhythm with haste,
he dances and dances, with the drum a perfect match they always make.
No soul knows where he comes from, no idea where he goes to neither,
but legend has it that he is from the world beyond and the life after.
In a land where solo dance is sin, to him the king raised not his sceptre,
he was never denied his dance, but the king forbade anyone to be his partner.
Adamu, son of Ela is believed to be the most gifted young man in the land,
every mother fantasize of the day he would ask for their daughter's hand,
all village contests he had won, to every worthy challenge he stood his ground,
but his one desire was to dance with the stranger and sway to his drum- sound.
At sundown every last Friday, Adamu would follow the small crowd so see him,
to listen to the seductive beat of stranger's magical drums, his heart skipping
beats ,
the crowd wow at the stranger's steps, in his head Adamu sways to the rhythm,
his heartbeat and the stranger's drum climax, till they beat in seamless
symphony.
Sound sleep deserted Adamu, the lust to join the hooded man in a duo-dance
grew,
the drum beats in his head, he skips and steps, the smile on his face ever so
full (fool),
he says 'if to dance with him is dangerous, the king would banish the man with
the hood',
but he knew he dare not sway with the stranger in as much as he badly wanted
to.
Adamu pushed his way through the crowd, there was unusual silence,
the dancer set up his drums painfully slow, accentuating the suspense,
he then began the seductive movements, Adamu felt his muscles tense,
the drums weren't sounding yet but the dancer moved, it made no sense.
The clouds began to gather, there was a loud thunderclap in the distance,
then the dancer paused, and suddenly began to sing at the same instance,
it was a soulful and sad song, it spoke of a great servant created to dance,
danced so great, his master felt threatened, banished him to strange lands.
The tear inducing song continued and the dancer started his slow sway,
Adamu felt his head float with the gathering clouds, his mind caught away,
he felt dizzy and feet light on the ground as the dancer quickened his pace,
his feet stalled but he kept his eyes on the dancer and began to walk his way.
A hushed silence fell on the crowd as Adamu gradually made his way forward,
the dancer continued singing and dancing, the clouds as rain began to fall,
but Adamu never paused, he got to the dancer who then gave him a slight nod,
he followed the dancer's feet, to the right to the left till they were in one
accord.
He felt an indescribable flow of pleasure through his being as he started
dancing,
a hearty cheer rose in the crowd, the sight of the duo dancing was
electrifying,
Adamu felt himself being drawn closer to the stranger, as they moved in unison,
it was as if his legs developed minds of their own, but he never paused to
reason.
The crowd looked at Adamu, at the stranger, it became hard to tell them apart,
the dance steps became intense, the music changed melody - only him could hear,
he tried to stop but his body failed him, what was pleasure now turned to fear,
the dancer did a twirl in the air, Adamu felt something deep within begin to
tear.
Adamu screamed deep in anguish but his mouth failed him, no sound came
out,
the song that was soulful in his ears had turned to menacing snarls and shouts,
the hooded man continued moving as blasphemous words came out of his mouth,
he cursed the king and the people but the crowd heard not what it was about.
The people cheered on, the sight of the combined act thrilled them to the core,
the song to their hearing was so beautiful, they began chanting for an encore,
but for the day the dancer had ended, the chant for more he choose to ignore,
he brought out a hooded cloak, covered Adamu and his face they saw no more.
Adamu felt cold claws clutch his soul, all feelings of human already
disappeared,
the stranger picked his drum and waved; signaling the end of his weekly façade,
then he turned and walked away with Adamu, the people gradually dispersed,
their reactions mixed, some excited by the duo-show but most felt lost and sad.
Now every Sunday before the rising of the sun and the crowing of the rooster,
the hooded stranger with Adamu come with more thrills than the roller coaster.
Every performance a villager is taken, with each, boldness the stranger muster,
for with Adamu and each captive he gained appeal incomparable to his first
start.
The village life sagged as more people of the land fell under the stranger's
spell,
gloom was palpable in the air but they failed to realize how close they were to
hell,
life as they knew it existed no more, but blinded to the truth, with no one to
tell,
the old and wise of them finally lifted their face to the king and cried out
for help.
The council of rulers stood before the king who sat on the throne, and he began
to say,
'Through one man the hooded deceiver gained entrance to your land and your race
failed,
through another Man, you shall be delivered, for this sole reason my only Son
was raised,
He will dance with the stranger and whosoever dances with Him to death shall be
saved!'
Dance with Him, His steps are light and graceful...dance with the Lord.
- Tokunbo
