Venice masks

Tuesday, 22 October 2019

the inferior - Nanche Billa Robert

we bounced out of the egg
in a minuscule zone
                              worth
                                             wealth
                                                             in a miniature of Africa
doomed to
                    the depth by pied tongues
                                                                           we stand
at akimbo
                    and see fly away our timbers
and spot
machines
drain dry
our oil
               and dig deep
                                        our diamond
                                                                  and see everything
                                                                  worth us worsen
and perceive no trappings of innovation
just the vanishing of our opulence
                                                                            in this darkest
                                                                            of continents
in a large mighty world
                                              created by jehovah
                                                             from far across
                    the sea two fair men
                                                             came saw and conquered
but from same
                                        womb we drove them
after they dropped
                                        a
                                             knife
                                        and
carved us into
                         French and English
                                    from the same womb we
    were given life
                                    yet I’m an inferior

Nanche Billa Robert (20th century) Cameroon
Source: Free Verse

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please keep your comments relevant and free from abusive language. Thank you. Note that comments are moderated so it may be a day or two before your comment is posted - irrelevant or abusive comments will not be published.