Sign in to follow this  
samjamaa

Poems by Wife and Husband

Recommended Posts

samjamaa   

WIFE AND HUSBAND.

(This is the best and most civil way to have a fight between husband and wife instead of resorting to physical force...(dpb)

 

WIFE:

I wrote your name on sand it got washed.

I wrote your name in air, it was blown away.

Then I wrote your name on my heart & I got Heart Attack.

 

HUSBAND:

God saw me hungry, he created pizza.

He saw me thirsty, he created Pepsi.

He saw me in the dark, he created light.

He saw me without problems, he created YOU.

 

WIFE:

Twinkle twinkle little star

You should know what you are

And once you know what you are

Mental hospital is not so far.

 

HUSBAND:

The rain makes all things beautiful.

The grass and flowers too.

If rain makes all things beautiful

Why doesn't it rain on you?

 

WIFE:

Roses are red; Violets are blue

Monkeys like u should be kept in zoo.

Don't feel so angry you will find me there too

Not in cage but outside, laughing at you

 

 

(¨`·.·´¨) Always

`·.¸(¨`·.·´¨) Keep

(¨`·.·´¨)¸.·´ Smiling!

`·.¸.·´

(¨`·.·´¨) (¨`·.·´¨)

`·.¸(¨`·.·´¨)¸.·´

`·.¸.·«*:·.

.·:*

*:·.

*«*:·.

.·:*

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
AYOUB   

My Husband’s Tongue is Bitter by OKOT P’BITEK

 

 

My clansmen, I cry

Listen to my voice:

The insults of my man

The insults of my man

Are painful beyond bearing.

 

*

 

My husband abuses me together with my parents:

He says terrible things about my mother

And I am so ashamed!

 

*

 

He abuses me in English

And he is so arrogant.

 

*

 

My husband pours scorn

On Black People,

He behaves like a hen

That eats its own eggs

A hen that should be imprisoned

Under a basket.

 

*

 

His eyes grow large

Deep black eyes

Ocol’s eyes resemble those of the Nile Perch!

He becomes fierce

Like a lioness with cubs,

He begins to behave like a mad hyena.

 

*

 

He says Black People are primitive

And their ways are utterly harmful,

Their dances are mortal sins

They are ignorant, poor and diseased!

 

*

 

Ocol says he is a modern man,

A progressive and civilized man.

He says he has read extensively and widely

And he can no longer live with a thing like me

Who cannot distinguish between good and bad,

He says I am just a village woman,

I am of the old type,

And no longer attractive.

Ocol is no longer in love with the old type.

He is in love with a modern girl;

The name of the beautiful one

Is Clementine.

 

*

 

Brother, when you see Clementine!

The beautiful one aspires

To look like a white woman;

Her lips are red-hot

Like glowing charcoal,

She resembles the wild cat

That has dipped its mouth in blood,

Her mouth is like raw yaws

It looks like an open ulcer,

Like the mouth of a fiend!

Tina dusts powder on her face

And it looks so pale;

She resembles the wizard

Getting ready for the midnight dance;

 

*

 

And she believes

That this is beautiful

Because it resembles the face of a white woman!

Her body resembles

The ugly coat of the hyena;

Her neck and arms

Have real human skins!

She looks as if she has been struck

By lightning;

Or burnt like the kongoni

In a fire hunt.

 

*

 

I am not unfair to my husband,

I do not complain

Because he wants another woman

Whether she is young or aged!

Who has ever prevented men

From wanting woman?

 

*

 

The competition for a man’s love

Is fought at the cooking place

When he returns from the field

Or from the hunt.

You win him with a hot bath

And sour porridge.

The wife who brings her meal first

Whose food is good to eat,

Whose dish is hot

Whose face is bright

And whose heart is clean

And whose are not dark

Like the shadows:

 

*

 

The wife who jokes freely

Who eats in the open

Not in the bed room,

One who is not dull

Like stale beer,

Such is the woman who becomes

The head-dress keeper.

 

*

 

I do not block my husband’s path

From his new wife.

If he likes, let him build for her

An iron roofed house on the hill!

I do not complain,

My grass thatched house is enough for me.

 

*

 

I am not angry

With the woman with whom

I share my husband,

I do not fear to compete with her.

 

*

 

Listen Ocol, my old friend,

The ways of your ancestors

Are good,

Their customs are solid

And not hollow

They are not thin, not easily breakable

They cannot be blown away.

By the wind

Because their roots reach deep into the soil.

 

*

 

I do not understand

The way of foreigners

But I do not despise their customs.

Why should you despise yours?

Listen, my husband,

You are the son of the Chief.

The pumpkin in the old homestead

Must not be uprooted!

 

*

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
raula   

^^song of Lawino...Super! Read this back in primary school-it is standard in E. Africa at least.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
raula   

^^if you get time..check out countrymate-Ngugi wa thiongo..among others. speaking of playwrights..one that sticks..that won the Nobel Prize in literature (the first in African literature) was Nigerian..'wole' sonyinka. His is brilliant but a bit controversial especially lately about 'religious fanaticism".

 

In the some western (American at least) world lit classes..they you might come across Tsitsi Dangaremba (zimbabwe).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
AYOUB   

^ Heard about Ngugi since childhood and Wole for many years now. I'd recommend the book titled "anthology of east African poetry" by Amateshe for some less known but brilliant poets. If you don't like it, I'll give your £5 back. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Sign in to follow this