The Dark Cloud Is Gone, As I Speak Poem by Ombuge M Moses

By Ombuge Moses

As I speak, Dark cloud is gone
Looked through my wooden window
My thatched house
Hot?
This early morning!
Things looked pretty unusual
Not the sun
For it on normal path
Today, too bright
Early morning
There was no dew
Fast, dry and weathered
This early morning
There was no dew, as I speak.


The dark cloud is gone
Destination? Unknown
White clouds scattered
Reason? Unknown
Fellow villagers talking
Topic? Weather
Answers? Rainmaker
Practice? sacrifice, blood
The dark cloud is gone, as I speak


As the sun strikes hard
A word is sent
The elder’s call
Evening bonfire gathering
The people respect
For elders are wise
They walk with good virtue
They command respect
They have animals
They keep a heard
The richest, a heard,600
The poorest, a goat,1
Or none
This early morning
Dark cloud is gone, as I speak


The bonfire is burning
Dark smoke is released
Trees were cut
Logs gathered
A bonfire is burning
The people have gathered
The mood is sober
The elders are in charge
Women not to speak
The men make the decision
Women are bound to follow
Society has constructed
Culture to maintain
This early evening
Dark cloud is gone, as I speak


Prayers in chants
Animals brought
As usual, lose a life
The rainmaker speaks in languages
An assumption to the people
The gods pleased
The knife sharpened
The happening, green to animal
The people ready to roast
Meat is delicious
This early evening
Dark cloud is gone, as I speak


The animal blood to pour
The butcher is ready
Agitated I shout
From the crowd to be heard
The people murmur
The men are angry
Women spite
They call me “the village boy”
I have never dated
I am not married
I have no children
I am not polygamist
Thus, no respect
For refusing to marry
A girl, they circumcised for me
As I speak
This early evening
Dark cloud is gone


Elders are wise
Women are obedient
Boys are security
As I speak, my little, no value, wisdom
It’s not the rainmaker
Not the gods
Not the animals
Not the bloodshed
Not prayers in languages
But!
This bonfire
We bonfire everyday
To tell heroic stories
To say prayers to the gods
Elders to share wisdom
Everyday, we bonfire
This early evening
As we bonfire
Dark cloud is gone, as I speak


We cut trees
Never to plant
Trees are gone
We continue to bonfire
It’s not heroic
To cut and not to plant
We die upon new births
We cut upon no planting
We bonfire upon no thinking
Tomorrow, where to cut?
If no more trees to cut
Now no more trees!
As I speak
This early night
As angry as look at me
As angry as you may seem
Conserve the environment
For as I speak
The dark cloud is gone
Me, “The village Boy”