How I wish to sing you a song
to let you know my love for you
is greater than all the world;
How I wish to hold you tight
and embrace your coastland:
your rich mud-banks,
golden rice fields swaying in the wind,
sweet sugar-cane burning in the fields,
punts slowly drifting in the canals,
bauxite mining and gold diggers panning;
How I long to watch buck-crabs marching
and jumping shrimps in dragging seines
where the Atlantic greets the sandy shores;
How I wish to see little boys
riding donkeys on red clay-brick streets,
some playing marble games in their back-yards,
mothers crouched on their knees
spreading cow-dung beneath stilted houses;
How I wish to drink sweet coconut water
sitting by the black-sage bush
or under a canopy of towering coconut trees
swaying like giants reaching for the blue skies;
How I wish to call my country
my home
not wanting to be a refugee:
fleeing from the wrath
of demon-like men who want all
not even listening
if you’re begging for some.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
This sounds like a tribute to your country... the place of childhood dreams and happier memories... am I right?