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MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:25:56
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The Rains
Smell of decaying leaves and dead grasses
Pervade the still air
Still like the soldier at the guard post
Waiting to hand over to the incoming soldier
The heavy rain of last night
Was the last post
Bye dry season
Welcome raining season
Alas you are here
Hopes are renewed
Promises are made
The bantabas are silent
They have been transferred to the farms
For the next six moons
The farmer lead his squad
Accompanied by cling-clang, cling-clang
The cling-clang of the animal drawn farm machine
This provide martial music for the farmers
The doting dogs dogging the squad
Heading to the lands prepared moons ago
The less equipped farmer shouldering his daba-jang
Followed by a lone sibling
His loyal lone dog bring the rear
Old paths are resurrected
New ones are born
These paths weave their ways from a main
Into small capillaries spreading further deep
Into the heart of the Jungle
The gainako follows
Allowing his cousins to do the morn shift
His is the post-noon shift
The freshly ploughed earth spreads far and wide
Some of them shall soon be cover in green
Green of gain and green of loss
Green of gain for the sweaty backs
Green of loss for the bad time keepers
The gainako must draw his new wurro
This drawing dictated by the sea of over-turned fresh earth
Also closest outlet to and from the pastures
Deep in thought four corners he marks
This will be the home of his precious wealth
For the next six moons
Hoping and praying by the end of their sojourn
The Wealth increases in numbers
Coupled with loads of keddam
Despite destined scuffles
The farmer and gainako
Are destined to live together
Are you Cain and Abel?
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madiss |
Edited by - MADIBA on 12 Jun 2008 13:26:51 |
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Santanfara
3460 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:31:47
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madiba, good to welcome the raining season. i hope your man in banjul kondorong is prepared. yahya's back to land and jawara's tesito, which is which. . my mum told me about the heavy rain last week. may it brings more blessing. i use to be a hard working farmer, the likes of kaanibaa and momodou may have forgoten how to hold a dabadin. |
Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Qu'ran
www.suntoumana.blogspot.com |
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MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:37:03
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Santa you got it right. I called home and i was told abt the rains and activities. It reminded me wat summer holidays meant to us.
Kondorong has no choice cos the bantaba in Yero Bawol will be vacated. His attaya pot has to migrate to the farms.
Are you sure you are better than Momodou and Kaanibaa? CRD folks are equally good at farming you know |
madiss |
Edited by - MADIBA on 12 Jun 2008 13:40:15 |
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Dalton1
3485 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:45:08
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Hi Bro Madis,
Don’t tell me! I am jealous of your talking stanzas. (jokes!!)
Your poem is full of traps, nostalgia stanzas if you like. It can only come from you in this way. I believe that poetry is a beautiful way of expressing thoughts where one uses his intellect and experience to address an issue(s).
The Cow dung’s smell
The calves at the ‘Wuhroh’
“Mooooooooooooooooooo!”
“Mooooooooooooooooooo!”
Ndeysaan!
quote:
“Tears are not only meant for dead people.”
Master Kondorong
Thanks for this one. Rightly put by Uncle Suntou.
Dalton. |
"There is no god but Allah (SWT); and Muhammad (SAW)is His last messenger." shahadah. Fear & Worship Allah (SWT) Alone! (:
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kiwi
Sweden
662 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:48:20
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| Who could have guessed that there are such a multitude of poets on this bantaba? I like that poem, Madiba. |
kiwi |
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MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:52:41
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quote:
Originally posted by kiwi
Who could have guessed that there are such a multitude of poets on this bantaba? I like that poem, Madiba.
Thanks Kiwi. Am just a baby Poet where the likes of Dalton, Kaanibaa and Santa are present. |
madiss |
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MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 13:54:55
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| Dalton am humbled. Anyway i feel like crying when my mind makes the journey down memory lane. If only the clock could tick backwards |
madiss |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 14:24:30
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The start of the rainy season brings in fresh hope.Hope that the new rains would enable the farmers to grow their crops to ensure good harvests and thus food aplenty for the family and the markets.Madiss, you brought up memories of the farms and along came the cows and cattle herders who some times get into tentacles especially,when the silly cows go mooching the crops of the hard working farmers. I was told that at times these are not accidental but well defined attacks by the gainako on the farms ,for various reasons.some based on the claims of farmers usurping cattle grazing fields , a contentious issue during the rains. Santa ,you got me spot when you said talked about my skills or use of the Dabanding or hoe, I was considered useless by my brothers who see me so attached to the books. My dad of blessed memory would send me to go for summer school studies whiles the bigger brothers toil on the farms. Man! They beat the hell out of me when ever they could because I was in their view getting preferential treatment.In my adult life though, I went into farming and bro I did enjoy the results ,harvesting good crops of groundnuts, cassava and maize.Thanks Madiba for sending me off to memory lane.To farm though I used paid labor, can you beat this I read about voluntary labor on presidential farms too,sooooooo! |
Edited by - kaanibaa on 12 Jun 2008 14:30:59 |
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mansasulu
997 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 15:53:39
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| I am just awed by this poem. It brings back fond memories of my visits to Kiang, my mom's birth place, during the summers some twenty plus years ago. It just seemed like yesterday. Thanks alot brother, you just made my day! |
"...Verily, in the remembrance of Allâh do hearts find rest..." Sura Al-Rad (Chapter 13, Verse 28)
...Gambian by birth, Muslim by the grace of Allah... |
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Dalton1
3485 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 16:35:21
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Bro Mansa,
Truly, Madis' poem is too personal to me and my life as a youth, growing up under the described scenario. As a youth, after the Morning Prayer, the eldest of the family next to my dad will give instructions, thus: you have two choices, i.e. is to go to the cattle or the farm. I was good at both. First rains are of real hope to farmers (nomads & crop farmers.) Before the rainy season comes, animals suffer a lot after bush fires consume the bushes in vain. Ndeysaan! In one of the bush fires I witnessed to extinguish using leaves and sticks, a scorpion stung me on my foot, barely was on flip-flop shoes –or may be the famous “nyamba” of old times. I was crying loud and was carried home with a shirt-cloth tied to my leg to prevent more pain.
So when the rains fall, greenery sprouts from every where. Animals will for once revive again. Farmers cultivate their farms. It happens that most cows give birth to calves during the rainy season. I don’t know why. Milk is more readily available. Once we leave for the bushes with the cows, you don’t come home till sunrise. Ndeysaan!
Matter of fact, during the dry season, we travel far from home in seach of hay for the animals. Sometimes for two/three/four/five/six months or even more. You will be away from home; away from many other things. Some of us even missed school.
When rain falls, the normad is no more bothered about going to the traditional wells to wait for cows to provide them with water. This is a very tedious process. Therefore, among all those that celebrate rains, the normads are first.
Tribute to Hampateh Ba:
Such discussions remind me of Hampateh Ba of the bundu region. He used cultural wisdom to progress and promote literature. & Essa Bokar sey has written a lot of appreciable literature about Hampateh.
Regards,
Dalton |
"There is no god but Allah (SWT); and Muhammad (SAW)is His last messenger." shahadah. Fear & Worship Allah (SWT) Alone! (:
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Edited by - Dalton1 on 12 Jun 2008 16:45:46 |
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MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 17:25:45
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| Kaanibaa you are right, sometimes the intrusions are not accidental. In Gainako jargon its called nyaagal. Normally we nyaay abandoned farms to which i refer to in the poem as green of loss. For some reason there are farms which are overtaken by weeds. Their owners abandon them. However there are these lazy bones who want tojoffin early, so instead of going to far away pastures they use such abandon farms or the naughty ones would let their cattle stray away. |
madiss |
Edited by - MADIBA on 12 Jun 2008 17:27:28 |
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mansasulu
997 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 18:22:30
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| I used to pick going with the Cattle ahead of going to the farm...I must saw those experiences are very beneficial to me today. Some memorable and others not so much. I could remember two particular situations when we were chased by farmers when our cattle strayed in the groundnut field. I was not able to get away in the first instance and the consequencies were devastating. On the second instance, I knew what was in stock for me, so I had to run as fast as I could. I learnt my lessons, I must say. The first one was in the outskirts of my mom's village and the second one was in JOLLOFIN, close to the border with Senegal. |
"...Verily, in the remembrance of Allâh do hearts find rest..." Sura Al-Rad (Chapter 13, Verse 28)
...Gambian by birth, Muslim by the grace of Allah... |
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MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 18:51:42
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| Mansa, thats a normal experience. For a young gainako thats the baptism of fire. At times they take their wrath out on the innocent calves left at wuuro. |
madiss |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 18:57:29
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| baa ....d boys huh! |
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Dalton1
3485 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 23:07:12
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The scary part:
When weeding, tilling or ploughing the soil....the many worms, snakes, scorpions that normally come out....
There was this little worm-snake that we locally called "mutamun nagheh" ['you won't witness sunrise' direct translation from hal pularr] that everyone was afraid of. It is believed that once that little snake bite you at any time, sunrise will not meet you alive. I cannot verify its authenticity, just for the records. |
"There is no god but Allah (SWT); and Muhammad (SAW)is His last messenger." shahadah. Fear & Worship Allah (SWT) Alone! (:
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jun 2008 : 23:37:43
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quote:
Originally posted by kiwi
Who could have guessed that there are such a multitude of poets on this bantaba? I like that poem, Madiba.
I like it too, Kiwi. The imagery in this poem is very powerful. You can feel and smell the rainy season.The decaying leaves and ... grass, the stench of rain-soaked cow dung. The rustle and bustle of the morning of that first rain, that change of guards... It is hard to resist the nostalgia. The farmer and the gainago, Abel and Cain? Gush, you have to be 'a son of the land' as the writer appears to be or atleast have the fertile mind of an environmentalist to appreciate the ecological paradigm. |
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