konye ori Poems

Life is beating the Ayara-Ekomo drum-
And I am dancing like the priestess of the river
possessed by the mermaid spirit of Anansa-
...

With our roots firmly in the soil-
we shall grow like the Iroko tree, to the pride of the forest
In the plague of our night-
we shall cry like crickets and ribbit like frogs
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Will South Africans let 27 years of Madiba Mandela’s
life wash down the Orange River like an orange peel?

Will the naked witty words that land on the Afro-beats of
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I am from a land;
a land where blood is shed over air and water.
From a land where rain and shine enter our shelters uninvited
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As night falls, the cool breeze comes; humming a grey tune
and the craven evening sun stealthily seeks refuge behind the clouds.

As night falls, twilight betrays light.
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I want to be like the Cassia tree-
The Cassia tree by the river side
I want to be like the Cassia tree
firmly rooted in the soil inside
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Our hearts pumped folly,
but folly to us was glory
The sign read “unto the pharynx of death, ”
but to our shaded eyes it was “life at its brim.”
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I am vice, conceived by the
presumed power of the mandrake
I am the fruit that avarice and manners had produced
Yet desperation calls me son
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With his hands tied behind his back
with Legislative-ropes of twine
and his lips sealed with black Judiciary-paper tape
the Fatherland is at the mercy of his Executive-captors.
...

It is as though,
that black shield that once protected us
from the spears of dearth
is rusted and shattered-
...