Poetry
Obari Gomba
Rename the republic if you must.
Call it the Federal Republic of Cows.
But do not smear our grasses with blood.
Human blood makes us dizzy.
Forget your point, our dear Head Cow.
For your sake we kill people well well.
We kill man we kill woman we kill pikin.
Come see come see come see.
Grasses are all we ask for. Must we
Walk the stretch of the earth for grasses?
Try some ranches for a change. Must you
Drag us through farmlands?
Forget your point, our dear Head Cow.
For your sake we kill people well well.
We kill man we kill woman we kill pikin.
Come see come see come see.
Our grasses are in the national budget.
Get us some warm grasses from Brazil.
Build a gilded dining hall for the Cows of Naija
But leave human blood out of the menu.
Forget your point, our dear Head Cow.
For your sake we kill people well well.
We kill man we kill woman we kill pikin.
Come see come see come see.
Rename the republic if you must.
Call it the Federal Republic of Cows.
Put all cows into the parliament or make us
Heads of State by common sense.
Forget your point, our dear Head Cow.
For your sake we kill people well well.
We kill man we kill woman we kill pikin.
Come see come see come see.
––Dr Gomba, an Honorary Fellow in Writing of the University of Iowa, teaches Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Port Harcourt.
