DRY OCEAN Water flows uphill, past Meaningful nothing’s gate Washing Happy City’s wall dead Planting gloom in its stead. The land in happy ignorance Dances to sadness’ enchanting tunes Dry waters penetrates Calm’s soil Poking with scrawny fingers it’s bed so fertile. Finding Joy’s seat, takes it, bed Of Happiness, rapes her dead Oh! Success’ […]
Life is Death Peter Bakyit Cuktu · 1982 What a grace and beautySo sweet but deceptiveLucifer’s crafts and Lotus-eaterBends people to sweetnessOffering all deliciousEarthly folks feast onTheir souls looted soonCaptivating, laxing LotusLuring subjects and rulers. There is hardly any epidemicContagious choleric, leprousCatching the poor and the richLuring life passes all. She is present everywhereWhat a […]
Drought Menace Peter B. Cuktu · 1982 The plagueHas stripped everything.The vermins scrambled,Robbed and raped,Roped everything away;The desiccating desertIs shifting daily,Sipping the juice of African land;Poor and persecutedRendered landless, fruitlessHomeless, helpless and lifeless.Noticeable drought effectsTelling here and there,Daily, the papersAnnounce about the activitiesOf the energy – sapping drought;Day after day, year after yearThe plague infiltrated,Making […]
Didactic Poetry Traditional Tiv Poetry · 1982 TIV Lam amo ga doo gaLam amo ga Ashitsugh GambeDajo u Adeke, kwase wamaaMdoom yo udoo kpa shima ngi gaMdoom ma kposu, ieren ngi kposu ENGLISH You haven’t talked to me, it’s badYou haven’t talked to me,Ashitsugh Gambe Dajo of AdekeMy woman, as for beauty, youare beautiful but […]
Love Poetry Traditional Tiv Poetry · 1982 TIV Auna WondoUir awa wondo akpa ateratarsha chi ukari mbaior a hideoAnengen aminooMva me mo sughJohn Papa vihi amo shie weseAlu me ma zeva yoMe unde dela or me pase lectureOr mom nana or kwagh zeoAlu sha shember gakuma ior yor amo kaa nanooAdoo Nyiban Tsue wangomoAinge mba […]
Religio-Medicinal Poetry Traditional Tiv Poetry · 1982 TIV Mngu sorun we kwagh neNahan yo abeoYange won nomsuwer, wan kwaseIbyo ben, sho kondu ENGLISH I’m treating this ailmentSo it finishesSun, the male childMoon, the female childGuilt, drift down, Good, arise. EDITOR’S NOTEFirst published in Nigeria Magazine, Friday, January 1, 1982.Source: Archiving.
Heroic Poetry Traditional Tiv Poetry · 1982 TIV OOO Agebage vaa karOnov mba Tsegba ande due sha tembeAakpya hembe ayemBegha ande sha hyande veInyaregh ki bov ki kum er ka wula yoAa a a aOn begha ande nyor nomsu ordue sha tembeaa kpya hembe ayem ENGLISH OOO a cry has soundedSons of Tsegba have come […]
Philosophical Poetry Traditional Tiv Poetry · 1982 I TIV Ason ShandeIor mba ve whum mbelaVe hemba ga, ka Aonda ahembeKwaghi adi wihin we zeoIta wan kpev ju yoMba Mongo hembeMan tume nom yongu nguharKpev ase aseo Tor Labe Gyuse tar u hegenWangbian kanan lu sha pywigwau va ieren.M va me dzor ieren. ENGLISH Ason Shandethose […]
Man of Words Hyeladzira A.B. Shaffa · 1992 They give nightmares, man of wordsThings you do with bales of wordsLying pompous in lairs of thine con-dom And for the boldness of thineschemesWe survive on those crumbs ofpowerThe extravagance from thy word-dom EDITOR’S NOTEFirst published in Citizen, Monday, August 24, 1992.Source: Archiving.