Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Videos
Resources
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Quotes
Short Stories
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 3.138.139.225
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
BOTTLE DANCE Across my land, abysses gnaw at automobiles, From the foot of the mountain, To the shores of the oil fountain. Certificated youths drinking piss to mellow their brains, Clutching at wheels, dodging bumps into fog lights. “Stupid, ing dog” curse survivors of amputation “you bastard” “Who cares, you swine” retorts I the offender just before crashing into the next one. In my shack, counting my yields and sighing, evading the burning eyes of hungry breeds. How did I ever get here? In the ring stood I, surrounded by Foncha, Endeley, Jua and Ntumazah Um Nyobe sang the UPC song and they danced. They danced the bottle dance. Sandwiching in the center, on the slaughter slab, my motherland. Nigeria to the left, La Republique to the right, Trampling upon outright independence. Foncha danced and Endeley danced and Nyobe sang and Britain watched. The tune was clear, the rhythm was jazzed but the lyrics were blur; Whence had a nation’s independence, Been conditioned upon attachment to already independent states? So how did we ever get here? A loaf of bread baked in the flames of WWI And served into the plates of Imperial barons of foreign insanity Too blind to the tongues of oneness. Drawing a line far far away in the halls of mirror That tore grandmother’s breasts apart. The story of the Ewes of Togoland Was being whispered in her land while she slept. A line dragged across the highlands of the Adamawa and drained into the Atlantic, Sullied the virginity and orthography of kamerun. Grooming a set of dysfunctional twins through years of alien doctrines, Only to be reunited in an unholy matrimony called Cameroon or Cameroun. Testaments of tongues foreign like those on a devil’s Pentecost, That sowed seeds of immortal division. So this is how really I got here! A son deprived of the warmth of a Mother Drained of her milk, Tapped and shipped offshore. Scorned and oppressed by a brother, His name slowing fading away from the sands of time. And now, the land of bottle dancers clamour for a new dance: For I know how we got here and I too want to dance; Federation to the left, secession to the right, Trampling upon the pseudo 1972 re-unification. The blood of the brave pipe the tunes And rhythms of gunshots meet hallelujah, Sang in a coffin.
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required