WOMAN KING
Every fight to live,
The strength to survive.
Other from the authority,
Just to secure territory.
Swords tasty of blood,
Killings and stains of blood.
The strength of a man,
Fragile heart of a woman.
With skills and fierceness,
Every battle is a success.
The legacy of Dahomey,
Belong to the warriors of Dahomey.
Agojie—a group of women warriors,
General nanisca the superior.
fight against a foreign enemy,
Gain their empire and legacy.
PricelessPEN
Categories:
dahomey, art,
Form: Rhyme
I am Africa
I.
Distant
And lonely
I am
The barren land
Of untoward change,
The empty womb,
The amputated hands,
I am
The Maker of new worlds
I am
Africa.
I am
The broken voice
Of the tall woman who undid
The family knot
Set my caged birds free
And set traps to owls and falcons
I am
The step to freedom
I am Africa.
I am
Gorée
Dahomey
Porto-Novo
Bimbia
And the boat
That sailed to the New Land.
I am
The aftermath of revolutions,
Theories and tempests.
I am
The dark forest no longer at ease
The things fall apart
Hopes and impediments
Leurres et lueurs.
I am not
The other world of the Heart
Of darkness nor the wrath in
Return to my native land
I am
Neither Aids nor Ebola.
What then am I?
Or what else am I?
Douala, January 1st, 2014
Categories:
dahomey, africa, joy,
Form: Free verse
let’s remember the ancestors
the ancestors of the clan –
the infamous and un-kingly kings
celebrate their inglorious libations
all over my land, my clan –
but, my clansmen
let not the clan forget the famous
foundations of the nri kingdom –
let’s remember the ancestors
the ancestors of the clan -
let the name of agaja trudo
be on the marbles of dahomey finest artists
for ’tis nothing infamous
for mansa musa to be versed
upon the new urns of the mali kingdom –
let mai ali ghaji be greeted
with the finest literary trumpeters!
let osie tutu sit seat-to-seat
with nelson mandela –
my clansmen
new are our horns today
let not the old horns of africa
be cut off in the zest of the artists
for my ancestors shall not be
mere spectators, mere winds
flying the history of my clan!
Categories:
dahomey, dedication, devotion, passion,
Form: I do not know?
Rise up black woman and you all of other colours
Rise up and grab your fallen baton
Passed down from the hand of heroines past
Rise up from the grave Amina Zazzau
The lioness who hunted for lions to eat
Rise up lest her exploits be forgotten
Rise up to sheer bravery of Aba women
Whose nudity deadened men’s manhood
And broke the chains and shackles of injustice
Rise up to the gallantry of the Dahomey women
Whose fists waded off mighty warriors
And secured a kingdom and its men
Rise up in the spirit of Pupupu
She who was first to ascend a throne
And berthed the Ondo kingdom
Rise upin the spirit of Efunroye Tinubu
A lone voice that drowned the voices of million of men
Whose wealth fuelled the economy of Egba nation
Rise up in the power of Moremi
The woman who dared what men feared
To unravel the liberated her people
Rise up in the spirit of Funmilayo Kuti
The tigress who retreated before nobody
Rise up in the spirit of Sawaba
The nanny goat that played host in lion’s den
Rise up girls and women
From your kitchens, markets, stalls and offices
Rise and keep up the dream of
The golden palms that rocked our cradle
Categories:
dahomey, black african american, inspirational,
Form: Free verse