Elephant Song
(Farewell to Moi. Written December 26, 2002)
Come, all ye animals of earth
Hey you there!
join us here!
E'en the birds of the air
And the fish of the sea
Let's all sing
and be merry
For the elephant
King of the jungle
Has fallen this very day.
Let us sing,
let us rejoice
For there he lies,
dead and gone
Weighted down
by his heavy tusks
never again shall he stand.
Let the terrible tiger
tear him apart
Like butchers with sharp knives
Let the vultures sing for him
Sorry songs of forlorn sorrow
Let hyenas laugh loud and clear
Echoing in the ears of the world.
Call the worms to dig him up
Tell the poachers here is tusk
For there is no more high tax.
Come you all animals of earth
Let's rejoice, let's make merry
For no more shall heavy feet
Trample us in ignorant slavitude
For today
indeed
we are free
Free at last,
Free at last
We are free at last!
otienoamisi
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
List of Poets
Francis GichuruPam AmadiOkello KoronjiOtieno Amisi...
Posted by Kenya Association of Poets at 2:37 AM 0 comments
Labels: There was the word
In the beginning...
In the beginning...Welcome to the official blog of the Kenya Association of Poets.In a few weeks from today, I promise, you will find here poems submitted to the Kenya Association of Poets since circa 1980, by men, women and children from diverse religious, political or professional leanings, but all of whom take pride in the humble title of 'poet.'Many expressionists, thinkers, students, teachers, journalists, creative writers, scholars, painters, musicians, and even noisemakers have, and continue to contribute to this ever growing colletion of poetry. The older poems have been preserved by the secretariat for many years, in the hope of one day finding a publisher. But since publishing comes in many forms these days, the poems have been performed, recited, aired and now, finally, blogged.But first, a brief history of the Association.I do not know if the charming lady Pam Amadi still breathes the air of this earth, but I ask her poetic spirit to respond to this blog. I think Francis Gichuru is now a senior professor of education at Kenyatta University, but his poems, short, subtle yet deep, still tickle my heart and bring back those fond memories of my poetic childhood. I have put together some of their poems here not because they were the founders of the association (which is a historical fact, anyway) but because they wrote some fine poetry in their own right.I am thinking of Shokat Habib, Raju Umamaheswar, Sam Mbure, Marjorie Oludhe, Stoa Pokile, and many others whose poems, though not easily available in book form many years later, kept the literary embers aglow in the Kenya Times newspaper in the 1970s and 1980s. In this electronic age, can this blog be a reunion for us, an electronic stage, where we can make a comeback, like we did at Kenyatta University's Cinema Hall in the late 1980s and at the Goethe Institute in the early 1990s?
Posted by Kenya Association of Poets.
the poem is mightier than the sword
A blog of the Kenya Association of Poets
Welcome
List of Poets
Francis GichuruPam AmadiOkello KoronjiOtieno Amisi...
Posted by Kenya Association of Poets at 2:37 AM 0 comments
Labels: There was the word
In the beginning...
In the beginning...Welcome to the official blog of the Kenya Association of Poets.In a few weeks from today, I promise, you will find here poems submitted to the Kenya Association of Poets since circa 1980, by men, women and children from diverse religious, political or professional leanings, but all of whom take pride in the humble title of 'poet.'Many expressionists, thinkers, students, teachers, journalists, creative writers, scholars, painters, musicians, and even noisemakers have, and continue to contribute to this ever growing colletion of poetry. The older poems have been preserved by the secretariat for many years, in the hope of one day finding a publisher. But since publishing comes in many forms these days, the poems have been performed, recited, aired and now, finally, blogged.But first, a brief history of the Association.I do not know if the charming lady Pam Amadi still breathes the air of this earth, but I ask her poetic spirit to respond to this blog. I think Francis Gichuru is now a senior professor of education at Kenyatta University, but his poems, short, subtle yet deep, still tickle my heart and bring back those fond memories of my poetic childhood. I have put together some of their poems here not because they were the founders of the association (which is a historical fact, anyway) but because they wrote some fine poetry in their own right.I am thinking of Shokat Habib, Raju Umamaheswar, Sam Mbure, Marjorie Oludhe, Stoa Pokile, and many others whose poems, though not easily available in book form many years later, kept the literary embers aglow in the Kenya Times newspaper in the 1970s and 1980s. In this electronic age, can this blog be a reunion for us, an electronic stage, where we can make a comeback, like we did at Kenyatta University's Cinema Hall in the late 1980s and at the Goethe Institute in the early 1990s?
Posted by Kenya Association of Poets.
the pen
the poem is mightier than the sword
Blog Archive
About Me
- PoemsKenya
- NAIROBI, KENYA, East Africa
- This blog is managed by Otieno Amisi, secretary of the Kenya Association of poets, a non profit making group of writers who have been strugling to get their work in print for years. If you would like to donate to the society or to make any comments, suggestions or reviews, please call 0720 913 981, or email the secretary at kenyanpoetry@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment