EMEKA GOC Ogaraku Poet Free verse

Onu Uzo Anaghi Esiesi

Onu Uzo Anaghi Esiesi 


Ikuku efeghi Osisi Oji adaa
Mmiri ezoghi, Ukwu aja erebie
Awo ejila ehihie gbaa soso
Kedu Ihe nwa ogbenye ga meme
Oburu na ndi ogaranya anwusiala

Okwu ba n‘ ego ukwu
Aluba ogu kpobe asa 
Imara na ike agwula dike
Dimkpa ne agbazi oso ni ihu agha

Oburu na ihe ka Nte bakwute Nte na onu
Ochewe echiche onuzu owere ososo
Onu uzo isi gbaghara ozo
Mana orughi onuzo-owere na mbu

Osisi ogoglgogo  na ahu ihe ezoro ezo
Uzo ogologo na echeta ihe mere na mgbe
Onu uzo anaghi esi esi n' mbu.

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The Narrow Gate. (Translation)

No Iroko falls without a wind.
No mud wall melts without the rain.
A toad does not race the afternoon sun for nothing.
If the rich are dropping like dry leaves

What hope is left for the poor?
When justice is bought with bags of gold,
When cowards lead and champions fold,
You know the warrior’s strength is spent.

When the brave turn back and flee the front,
The shield is broken, heart melted, lacking affronts.
What would the vulnerable and the poor face off,
If the rich and the powerful dies off?

When a threat too big forces the gate,
Think fast, move fast, or meet your fate.
The escape route you took before is gone
A trap where freedom used to dawn.

The tall tree spots the hidden snare.
The long road remembers who walked there.
But the final door is never too tight
We all pass through into the night.

Together, are the witnesses to mysteries
Trees, knows where truths, secrets are hidden intently
Roads are the custodians of truth and histories
A Road/ Pathway/ Entrance Never Close Permanently

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Alison A Smith October 2, 2026 at 6:49 PM Not many would even try to translate. This unfortunately is an English site so all poems need to be translated into English. I hope my translation did your poem justice.

Alison A Smith October 2, 2026 at 6:47 PM Comment on form The poem’s free-verse form works through compact, proverb-like statements rather than narrative explanation. Its short lines create pauses for reflection, while repeated terms—especially ihie (“light”), uzo (“road/way”), and onu uzo (“entrance/threshold”)—bind the stanzas into a single meditative structure. The closing return to the title phrase is especially effective: it makes the poem circular rather than merely conclusive. After images of deprivation, deceit, struggle, and difficult choices, the final assertion becomes quietly resilient rather than falsely triumphant. Comment on content At its centre, the poem speaks to social inequality and moral pressure: the image of “the poor child” facing a world in which “the rich have finished eating” gives the work real anguish. Yet it does not remain only in despair. The poem also considers courage, judgement, and persistence—how one may seek another route without surrendering one’s original purpose. Its natural imagery is not decorative. Wind, rain, sun, tree, light, and road act as a moral landscape: the world may be harsh, but it retains memory, concealment, direction, and openings. The last image of the tall tree knowing where light is hidden gives the poem a spiritual gravity, while the final line affirms that even in conflict and scarcity, a passage remains possible.

Alison A Smith October 2, 2026 at 6:45 PM Translation The Entrance Is Not Closed The wind has not blown for the kola tree to fall; the rain has not ceased, yet the sandbanks are exhausted. The sun has not scorched everything bare— what then can the poor child do when the rich have finished eating? Words have entered great wealth; lies have fought seven wars. Know that strength does not defeat the brave; the strong man runs forward into the face of battle. If daylight is too difficult to carry upon one’s lips, sit, think, and quickly take another road. The entrance may lead to another way, but do not abandon the road you first set out upon. The tall tree knows where the light hides. The long road remembers what light has done through time. The entrance is never closed to the traveller. Note: A few phrases carry idiomatic, tonal, or orthographic ambiguity in the version supplied, so this rendering favours the poem’s discernible images and argument. “Osisi oji” can refer to the kola tree in Igbo cultural usage, where kola is strongly associated with life, welcome, peace, communal recognition, and blessing. The word ọjị can also have other meanings depending on tone and diacritics, which is one reason a fully literal translation needs confirmation from a fluent speaker or the poet EMEKA GOC Ogaraku October 3, 2026 at 2:05 PM Hello, Alison, I really like you. You are bold and no borders can stop you. Thank you for attempting to translate. I do appreciate you. I am sorry also for publishing in Igbo, I was excited to be able to write in Igbo language as well. Thank you again Alison. GOC

Alison A Smith October 2, 2026 at 6:44 PM This is an interpretive English translation of the Igbo poem, preserving its grave, proverbial tone rather than claiming a word-for-word scholarly rendering. The title, Onu Uzo Anaghi Esiesi, appears to mean “The entrance is not closed” or “The way in is never shut.” The poem’s emotional movement is from hardship and injustice toward endurance, reflection, and the possibility of another path. EMEKA GOC Ogaraku October 3, 2026 at 2:20 PM The Narrow Gate No Iroko falls without a wind. No mud wall melts without the rain. A toad does not race the afternoon sun for nothing. If the rich are dropping like dry leaves What hope is left for the poor? When justice is bought with bags of gold, When cowards lead and champions fold, You know the warrior’s strength is spent. When the brave turn back and flee the front, The shield is broken, heart melted, lacking affronts. What would the vulnerable and the poor face off, If the rich and the powerful dies off? When a threat too big forces the gate, Think fast, move fast, or meet your fate. The escape route you took before is gone A trap where freedom used to dawn. The tall tree spots the hidden snare. The long road remembers who walked there. But the final door is never too tight We all pass through into the night. Together, are the witnesses to mysteries Trees, knows where truths, secrets are hidden intently Roads are the custodians of truth and histories A Road/ Pathway/ Entrance Never Close Permanently