Oh Rafia

By Phoebe Liew http://www.123rf.com/                                                                                              

On your high places

we encroached,

to expose this serenity

blessed thee from above.

Like a branch in the winds

our tongue blew thee

each time each blow,

returned thee to stability

even with our cherished fruits.

19/05/2014

The line in her hair

In between the black

The shining long hair

She combs even now

Until in between it

The only line is formed

That line drawn not

With ink nor colour

Brings forth her beauty

On her curved cara

Welcome

Hail!! Hail!! Hail!!
From afar the battle drums are beaten
The king and his warriors
At the square all gathered
Shouts of praise surrounds him
Like beautiful beads around the waist

Welcome!! The beater said
Visitors from the unknown world
Guardians from the realms above
Keepers of nature and our brothers
Here we jubilate and make merry
Our victory songs we sing to dance
Those gone afar and beyond we remember
To invoke and embrace what they left behind:
Our togetherness
Our freedom
Our prosperity

Hail!! Hail!! Hail!!
Another year of togetherness
Year of freedom
Of prosperity.

Let us drink and dine
Let us drum and dance
Let all say aloud “walk the talk”
Our response “Words well read, said, heard”

dressed in painted clay

There in the distance they gather
Can you hear the big big drums
Tum-pun tum-pun they sound
May it not be sadness but joy
Until near I will be
My doubts will surely flee

Men in similar clothes their women too
As they mark their feet from the knee in white clay
Along the street proudly stood like guest at Otufu
Bringing home the new convert
Dressed and painted in white and clay
Their feet bare, on the red earth

My teacher

Among the birds I was
Like them I was
until he found me .
Into an eagle he turned me,
How to fly he taught me,
Into the sky he taught me.
Although not gone into the moon I
yet grateful still am I
that he made to fly
not just like an eagle
but also without perching.

Gracias mamá

En tu útero no me quedaba nunca
Mi primera luna no viste nunca,
Nunca mi primer andar en la tierra
Pero tu amor maternal no me refrenaste nunca:

Un amor que nunca se hizo frio
En un lugar en mi corazón que no se negó nunca.
Nunca se completará mi vida sin ti

Nunca habrá una casa en un lugar sin ti
Nunca he abandonado esta casa por ti
Porque nunca se te puede reemplazar allá
Y la razón por qué: nunca te puedo dejar de decir gracias.