Ant Rant
Day and nite they toil
Riding us of spoils
Moping up and down
Saving gowns and towns
Before dawn they come
Dusting all our dorms
Scrubbing dungs from pits
Working while we spit
When the month draws nigh
They whisper a sigh
Relieved by that pay
Meagre all the way
Sweating elephants
Reaping fruits for ants
Better pay they yearn
‘Save these dying ferns’
(c) IYEOMOAN, Ehizogie
UNIBEN authorities, please pay our cleaners
justly.
E nor izi tu pak dirti ooo!
She’s artistically calibrated
By the magical hands of fallen heroes,
Envied by other gourds
Made by the ingenuity of the gods,
To be celebrated
Even in this land of pharaohs
She’s expected
To yield the nicest of notes
Gracing our feet
Stuck to the buttocks of our seat
Till we are reciprocated
To sell our votes
Yet, she diluted
And sold our conscience
Holding us bound
By her seductive sound…
We patiently waited
But, she made no sense
Inspired by the quietness of Mr. President; tolerating opposition to the detriment of his waning administration. I want to see how this lukewarm giant can sway the hearts of the masses, come twenty-fifteen.
©Iyeomoan Ema-zogie
University of Benin.
Adieu Tata!
From the trouble waters
An icon of hope
Clogging your nostrils
And the cowardly man-hunters
Aiding your perch on anthills;
Your kicked bucket spill
Tears of ceaseless joy,
Like the pregnant [1]Amanzimtoti;
Freely lending your mouth
To the boughs of the Indian Ocean
Adieu Madiba!
From the scourge of [2]Rolihlahla
To the boon of the people’s [3]Tata,
You jilted the ignoble splendor of wigs
For the more noble regalia of twigs;
The magnified crown of [4]Thembu,
For the miniaturized gown of [5]Robben Island,
Gulping the brutal pills of oppression
That we may gain freedom, from the cuffs
Of racism; and the manacles of injustice
Adieu Tata Madiba!
Fort-Hare and Beaufort, trumpet adieu!
To the resilient Negro of anti-apartheid
The one-man soldier of pro-liberation,
Whose cannons of candled peace
Voyaged beyond borders of the Atlantic;
Whose manured sweat wattled sterile-deserts
Into manicured springs of watered fertile-forests
Adieu Mandela! Your demise gladdens my heart
Cos you left for me, no stone yet unturned.
Eulogy in honour of the great Madiba; the father of African pro-liberation (Nelson Mandela: 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013), on his glorious exit to the great beyond. Tata Madiba, I rejoice at your demise b‘cos you left for me, no stone yet unturned.
©Iyeomoan Ema-Zogie; University of Benin, Nigeria.
[1] Amanzimtoti: A large river of the Zulu clan of South Africa. It empties into the Indian Ocean at winter seasons.
[2] Rolihlahla is a local name of the Thembu clan of the Zulu tribe, which means “a trouble maker”. It’s the name Nelson Mandela’s father gave him at birth.
[3] Tata is the name endeared to Nelson Mandela by the South African. Tata means “father of many nations”.
[4] Thembu, a small village of the Zulu tribe, is the place of birth of the anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela.
[5] Robben Island is the worst dungeon for prisoners of the apartheid regime. Nelson Mandela spent most of his years of delayed justice in this prison.
1.
Wa! awon omo-oluwabi call;
Let’s together come as one
Put aside past flaws; let’s stand tall
Cos’ this ball must roll-on
Zo! Abokis reply;
We won’t with you, fly
Or share with you the sky
‘Tis our route we seek to ply…
Bia! Ndi’gbos boo
We’re better alone than with you two
We wanna stay on our own too
There is no need for this flu
2.
Wa! enough of this tragic tale
Our lads are in hell
And we too are in the same well
Struggling for empty oil-barrels to sell
Zo! We own from time immemorial, this power
We were the white-gods foliage flower
Can a clock tick without her hand hour?
The land’s fruits are us to shower
Bia! No more with you- Ndi’gbo, let’s go
We alone can grow,
And still set our boats to row
But not by your paddle’s tow
3.
WaZoBia! What a rhythmic combination!
The bird’s whistle wazobia!
Can’t you feel the aesthetic connection?
Even the winds blow the pipe… WaZoBia!
Come, let’s try this fixture
The Water, Zinc and Bronze mixture
Water’ll flow on Zinc made from Bronze
Can’t you see we need each other’s nose?
Nigeria must surely and steadily grow
Brothers! Enough of this growl
Let’s in one-accord, grow this brand
And together “we shall stand”
If the National Conference’s outcome is treated in unison; if Nigeria’s interest is placed in the apex, and personal interest in the rear; if ethnicity is buried and patriotism is enthroned, I see a bigger, stronger and better Nigeria. No need for a confederation! Let’s together build this federation!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
IYEOMOAN EMMANUEL,
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, NIGERIA.
Twitter: @Iyeomoan_Emma
Facebook: facebook.com/ema.ternity
Email: ematernity@yahoo.com or iyeomoanemmanuel@gmail.com
PENCIL ART
I woke-up this early morning, only to find myself stark-naked in a jungle, instead of the usual big, soft caressing mattress in my small but comfortable room. Rather than move on with my daily chores, goals and targets as customary, I sat on the feet of a big baobab tree, pondering on this abnormality- how did I get here and why am I naked?
I was just a few miles into myriads of unending thoughts, before the thinking process was interrupted by a sudden blast; loud enough the block the ear-drums from beating, and strong enough to pull down mountains, and ceilings-boards of roof-tops.
Out of trepidation; fear of what ‘I don’t know’, I closed my eyes, shut my ears; though the sound still penetrated the enclosure; I seized my breath, and remained still- seeming lifeless like a dried “Magala-fish” tied to a stake and ready from sumptuous crucifixion.
My agony soon faded as time traveled, because I got used to my trouble; though, it was still lying next to me- the sound lowered and echoed, but never stopped. I opened those blind-shut eyes and dumb ears, and to my utter amazement, I was in front of many fierce-looking creatures, in what looked like a ‘jungle law court’. I covered my ‘PP’ with my feeble hands, suspecting that these creatures (animals of the jungle) gazed on that sacred spot alone. I smiled chokingly, but to no one in particular as goose-pimples grew fast allover my body; not even my look-alikes (the monkeys) returned my smiled; it then dawned on me that I was in for doom. It’s like there were too busy to see my face; engrossed in the business of prosecuting a defaulter, an intruder- the jungle trespasser.
Ebele the lion, king and judge of the jungle, broke the ice when he read my sentence with stating my offence; it was life imprisonment with hard labour. What a world of injustice! I knew it never mattered if I was giving fair hearing, as nobody understands my language; they think I’m barbaric, speaking in a tongue that sounds strange. This was my fate!
Amidst tears and in fetters, I was lead to my cell; a creatively crafted cage made for my kind. In a condition like this, the brain probably thinks faster than normal, so, I devised an escape route; though, only in my silent mind. I looked around and discovered other ‘trespassers’ of my kind, wallowing in pain and hunger. This motivated me to swing to action; to bell the cat and rescue these freedom fighters from jungle justice.
I remembered an old adage that says, ‘the lion can’t be king of the jungle when the jungle is on fire, he can’t be greater than his den’. My friends and I, set the jungle on fire and like the villain in that popular old drama series on Galaxy Television (Dance of Shame), we all perished with our persecutors, there in the jungle. No victor! No vanquished!
Ipuwer, the Egytian philosopher who prescribed utter destruction of all corrupt beings in a polity, as the best antidote for corruption, should be given at least a handful credit. He is entitled to his opinion and I guessed he masticated more than he could swallow.
NB: This is just a fiction; an imaginative creation of the author. Any semblance to real living or dead figures/character(s) is only a resultant coincidence.
Remember, “Plagiarism” is academic theft punishable by law. BE WARNED!
Iyeomoan Emmanuel,
University of Benin, Nigeria.
Twitter: @Iyeomoan_Emma
http://facebook.com/ema.ternity
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