Silent Voices

Renko

65 Plus acerbic songs by Korup poets Ranking your womb with desert soil As means to lure you to their choice In hopes it worked for family name to clear But adamant stuck you to your choice And work it did, for in no time Gossip sessions on you women did hold As manifest were signs long expected Conjecture did Ojong a trick you played For him to have not a seed by you And publicly he did swear to Mbungo Society that signifies Barrenness. Said he Give birth Offiong will not despite the signs But on that eventual eventide When Ekon Ekpe mask did parade In honour of men newly titled-crowned Decided Nature to prove him wrong Nwa-a-a! Nwa-a-a! the cry was clear Born was a bouncing baby boy With name on him tagged by the great event Ekpe the Leopard of Korup was born Renko Renko the rock, The pride of Korup, The strength of a people long forgotten Impressive glade you form 66 From canopy high In the serene core of the jungle. There you lie, a molten blanket In magnificent splendour, Like clear sky on forest floor The glair, the lustre, The glare, the glittering, Like blinking of stars In deep dark night. The dazzling beauty In the heat of sun, Hypnotising like the mystery tale Reverberating past Reminiscences of hunters Who, having lost their bearings, Roamed the jungle And, wearily emerging Unto your floor of benevolence, Were served, as they sat, with Assorted dishes from the blue At mention of “hunger”. Gone now the power is, Shattered the benevolent heart as, we’re told, A hunter, greedy like a lion, Broke all the plates in rage After a heavy, sumptuous meal, And now provide you can’t 67 For hungry ones that miss their way, And roam the Korup jungle, And have the luck of meeting you. Demigodism Title-chanting loud and clear Daily heaps of falsehood-praises Edifices built by the mediocre Charm-smeared pulpits towering high Trap-souvenir for godfathers Recompense for providing with impunity Wing-cover for mediocrity Daily rise praise-chanting With clear intention to raise Godfathersism to demigodism And determination to destroy Dissidents at the slightest glimpse Suspected to possess the craft and will To dismantle the mantle of mediocrity Leader of Valour You prepared a tremendous fixture For the tournament, and seem so charismatic In the show but lack the vigour That paints a picture Characteristic Of our leader of valour. You bear not a crown ...