my women have ganged against me! poem by Ojijo Ogillo

(extracted from Fireplace Stories: Ojijo's Performance Poems. Poem .2012. ISBN.978-9966-123-17-6)

1.     my women have ganged against me!

 

(this poem, when in plural, e.g. ‘our women’, can be performed as a choral verse piece)

 

my women,

these females I once seduced,

they have ganged against me,

one says the yam was immature, and so, there is no food,

another says there was too much salt, and so, I will not eat,

a third says the child kicked the bowl, and so, I will starve,

and the first one says the firewood was wet with too much smoke, and so, I sleep hungry tonite,

my women, they have ganged against me,

 

my women have ganged against me,

these damsels I paid dowry for,

they are standing on the door, I cannot enter,

they are standing by the table, I cannot eat,

they are standing all over me, I cannot think,

they are standing by the bed, I cannot sleep,

my women, they have ganged against me

 

my women have ganged against me,

these people are scheming against me,

they see me and group together,

they look at me and shake their heads, sorrowfully,

they point at my house and nod their heads, pitifully,

they stare at me and roll their eyes, twitching their lips,

my women have ganged up against me,

 

my women have ganged against me,

these girls I brought into my home,

they laugh to make me cry,

they they speak to shut me up,

they cook to starve me,

they sleep to keep me awake,

my women have ganged against me,

 

my women have ganged against me,

these people are nolonger my friends,

when my competitors scheme against me,

they serve them chamomile tea,

when my enemies ridicule me,

they tell the jokes,

when my detractors backstab me,

they hand them the knives,

and when I win,

they sympathise with the losers,

my women have ganged against me,

 

my women have ganged against me,

these people I know not anymore,

they stand arms akimbo, in the waist, radicalized,

they put their legs apart, astride, ready for war,

they lift their chins, raised, defiant,

they bite their lower lips, hard, intimidating me,

they stare at my eyes, not blinking, scaring me,

my women, they have ganged against me.

 

 (Ojijo is an ICT lawyer, author of 31 books, performance poet, armature pianist, luo culture expert, business feasibility study and financial projections consultant, public speaker and coach:+256776100059)