Papa always told me
A man does not cry
Indeed at a tender age I was already a man
Drinking oti-oka around the fireplace
With men as old as papa, from the same pot
All saying one thing, a man does not cry.

At eighteen, I was ready to start up a family
And take up the role of a man that I was
I took Abeni and gave her my hut
She gave me ten out of her womb
Of whom three were boys
I was ready to pass onto...