Spotlighting Pan-African Poetry

Biography

What is Africa?

Enlarge poem

What is Africa, A stranded housefly
In rain season, a dark tomb, hell
Blackman’s leprosy, a Whiteman’s giggle?

What Africa really means?

The ancient mother of life, that denied life?
The husband that stolen wife?
The king, that turned a slave,
The hero, which gifted a grave?
The dim-star, the sold brave?

What are thy religions, than ways to heaven?

Africa!

The house, split by boundaries, dark home!
The smokes mushrooming city, gun powder, firing game
The home of wars, school of puppets, tent of refugees,

What are your tribes, than just dialects?

Africa!

The free bomb town, land of mine own,
The queens tattered gown, worthless mine
Of the endless sunset, mute sunshine

What are your skin colours, than just rainbow signs?

Africa!

The gourd of rat race
Of the greedy to bury peace
And prophets, pioneers of puppecy
The modest lamb, father of autocracy,

What are your races; a mother to forsake her child?

Africa!

The mid-day rose, the wild daisy
The kingdom in wilderness, pal to democracy,
The deserted dame, diseased mother?
The dying child, the whipped brother?

What is your clan, a unity of state?

Africa!

Who are you, Africa, than that I know?

An innocent child singing
The sweet, soft flowing Nile in the desert
The Rapp’d maiden in her childhood,

A nymph at the bank of the Kagera River

Eating green, living green in green

But dying of “tribus”

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Sweetbert Mbogo Nkuba

Featured Poem:

Our Cattle

Enlarge poem

Look at me, Laugh:
On my cracking feet,
And the endless cough
And my rugged suit
I unworn the deceased, hung oneself on the tree,
Which has cow-dung smokes smell
On my dry, scaled and valleyed skin,
Living dead, dying poor.

For our fathers didn’t take us to school,
For we had to heard the cattle,
Since the cow’s life is worthier,
Twin brothers in the kraal
Which can’t be sold, than of hunger or sickness
The cattle for prestige
The prestige worthier than education
The education for the collar-jobs
The jobs against our customs

Look at me laugh:
For when I passed for secondary school
My father had a thousand cattle
Which I had to take care of
For he didn’t have some money
For the school fees.

All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 South Africa License.

Our Cattle by Sweetbert Mbogo Nkuba

Download the audio file

How does this featured poem make you feel?

  • Amazement (1)
  • Pride (2)
  • Optimism (1)
  • Anger (0)
  • Delight (1)
  • Inspiration (5)
  • Reflection (0)
  • Captivation (0)
  • Peace (0)
  • Amusement (0)
  • Sorrow (0)
  • Vigour (0)
  • Hope (0)
  • Sadness (1)
  • Fear (0)
  • Jubilation (0)

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Tanzania

Biography

Sweetbert Mbogo Nkuba is a Lawyer and Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, a poet and a back stage politician. As a practicing lawyer, I work as a partner at SWEET & CONRAD, LLP. ADVOCATES AND CORPORATE LAWYERS.

His desire to become a poet was inspired by the fastest growing hip hop culture in East Africa in 1990s, the developed trend of writing and reciting rhyming verses made me fall in love with writing verses.

His books THE VOICES FROM THE SHADOW and the TRUTH are due for publication in March, 2016. He has a collection of thousands of poems reflecting different socio-economic values.

Sweetbert Mbogo Nkuba

Tanzania

Biography

Sweetbert Mbogo Nkuba is a Lawyer and Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, a poet and a back stage politician. As a practicing lawyer, I work as a partner at SWEET & CONRAD, LLP. ADVOCATES AND CORPORATE LAWYERS.

His desire to become a poet was inspired by the fastest growing hip hop culture in East Africa in 1990s, the developed trend of writing and reciting rhyming verses made me fall in love with writing verses.

His books THE VOICES FROM THE SHADOW and the TRUTH are due for publication in March, 2016. He has a collection of thousands of poems reflecting different socio-economic values.

What is Africa?

Enlarge poem

What is Africa, A stranded housefly
In rain season, a dark tomb, hell
Blackman’s leprosy, a Whiteman’s giggle?

What Africa really means?

The ancient mother of life, that denied life?
The husband that stolen wife?
The king, that turned a slave,
The hero, which gifted a grave?
The dim-star, the sold brave?

What are thy religions, than ways to heaven?

Africa!

The house, split by boundaries, dark home!
The smokes mushrooming city, gun powder, firing game
The home of wars, school of puppets, tent of refugees,

What are your tribes, than just dialects?

Africa!

The free bomb town, land of mine own,
The queens tattered gown, worthless mine
Of the endless sunset, mute sunshine

What are your skin colours, than just rainbow signs?

Africa!

The gourd of rat race
Of the greedy to bury peace
And prophets, pioneers of puppecy
The modest lamb, father of autocracy,

What are your races; a mother to forsake her child?

Africa!

The mid-day rose, the wild daisy
The kingdom in wilderness, pal to democracy,
The deserted dame, diseased mother?
The dying child, the whipped brother?

What is your clan, a unity of state?

Africa!

Who are you, Africa, than that I know?

An innocent child singing
The sweet, soft flowing Nile in the desert
The Rapp’d maiden in her childhood,

A nymph at the bank of the Kagera River

Eating green, living green in green

But dying of “tribus”

Featured Poem:

Our Cattle

Enlarge poem

Look at me, Laugh:
On my cracking feet,
And the endless cough
And my rugged suit
I unworn the deceased, hung oneself on the tree,
Which has cow-dung smokes smell
On my dry, scaled and valleyed skin,
Living dead, dying poor.

For our fathers didn’t take us to school,
For we had to heard the cattle,
Since the cow’s life is worthier,
Twin brothers in the kraal
Which can’t be sold, than of hunger or sickness
The cattle for prestige
The prestige worthier than education
The education for the collar-jobs
The jobs against our customs

Look at me laugh:
For when I passed for secondary school
My father had a thousand cattle
Which I had to take care of
For he didn’t have some money
For the school fees.

Our Cattle by Sweetbert Mbogo Nkuba

Download the audio file

How does this featured poem make you feel?

  • Amazement (1)
  • Pride (2)
  • Optimism (1)
  • Anger (0)
  • Delight (1)
  • Inspiration (5)
  • Reflection (0)
  • Captivation (0)
  • Peace (0)
  • Amusement (0)
  • Sorrow (0)
  • Vigour (0)
  • Hope (0)
  • Sadness (1)
  • Fear (0)
  • Jubilation (0)

What is Africa?

Enlarge poem

What is Africa, A stranded housefly
In rain season, a dark tomb, hell
Blackman’s leprosy, a Whiteman’s giggle?

What Africa really means?

The ancient mother of life, that denied life?
The husband that stolen wife?
The king, that turned a slave,
The hero, which gifted a grave?
The dim-star, the sold brave?

What are thy religions, than ways to heaven?

Africa!

The house, split by boundaries, dark home!
The smokes mushrooming city, gun powder, firing game
The home of wars, school of puppets, tent of refugees,

What are your tribes, than just dialects?

Africa!

The free bomb town, land of mine own,
The queens tattered gown, worthless mine
Of the endless sunset, mute sunshine

What are your skin colours, than just rainbow signs?

Africa!

The gourd of rat race
Of the greedy to bury peace
And prophets, pioneers of puppecy
The modest lamb, father of autocracy,

What are your races; a mother to forsake her child?

Africa!

The mid-day rose, the wild daisy
The kingdom in wilderness, pal to democracy,
The deserted dame, diseased mother?
The dying child, the whipped brother?

What is your clan, a unity of state?

Africa!

Who are you, Africa, than that I know?

An innocent child singing
The sweet, soft flowing Nile in the desert
The Rapp’d maiden in her childhood,

A nymph at the bank of the Kagera River

Eating green, living green in green

But dying of “tribus”

Comments

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