Kongi

Wired mortal from the English Art Banished from his home, spotted from a distance Noble amongst scrawling African inscriptions First veneration of mystical minds Take a bow, take a bow. Obliterating deliberate disregard From interrupters of our histories, With trophies, allays a regret and loss So little for so great a heart, Take a bow, take a bow. Liberal lord of limpid looks Grand philosophy too many for little minds, Art of African arts Impenetrable obscurity to the impatient, Take a bow, take a bow. Entangled genus in the darkest harbor, Found in a waste howling wilderness, Left to die in the gaols like their many kills, And death too weak, spewed him in his flowers Take a bow, take a bow. Scrupulous dexterity of the bearded laurel Multitudinous nobility and countless soothing saccharine A restoration of our dignity not celebrated, and un-sung. Tyrannous candor engulfed intelligential Take a bow, take a bow. Obdurate at the palaces of murderers Smiling at military cavalcades, the terror of comrades. Where barrels pacify the wrangling of children men. A beholding bluff like Ogun’s iron garb Take a bow, take a bow. Yea, the snow-like signature in scraggy form Impresses nature’s validity on his authority, Corroding flesh lacerate aptness from his brow Gyrating orbits of unmatched intelligence Take a bow, take a bow. Invisible man from the “kongi” kingdom Imposing trepidation on pharaohs in the jungle, Brawny penchant where others retire, On Lagos streets and London’s courtyard Take a bow, take a bow. Nibble in niggle, stripping rogues of honor Loathing unsavory milk unlike sycophants Discarding opulence to mediate for the poor With no reward or crown in intention Take a bow, take a bow. Knack for wars with imperious monsters A constant blustery of unrepentant “Vagabonds” Dusk till dawn, yearning for Justice. Crying still, for murdered motherland Take a bow, take a bow. And if he dies tomorrow, As death to all must come, His posture, a statue for ever, On our minds and in those rulers of the jungle. Take a bow, take a bow. Dedicated to Prof. Wole Soyinka Nobel Laurate 1986