THE AFRICAN COCK

I am a handsome cock,
Born with a hairless neck;
I crow ontop of the granary
Each sunrise, each sunset,
As red fire burns on my head.
I keep calling your name, Ikaidu,
With the sweetest strings of my voice,
As you mock me with buttockless buttocks;
My red eyes stare at you with twin tears,
Chicken walking all over my sight,
And I crow your name;
(kokodiiro Koo, Kokodiiro Koo!
You are the hen among hens,
That your erect beak writes a.b.c.d like poetry pens).

I am a handsome Black Cock
Who defends you from wild cats,
And our chicks from bloody Eagles;
For I kick like the bewitched thunder,
With my three fingered legs.
I chase you around the compound,
As sweat rolls down my naked neck.
For you alone, Ikaidu,
Is the spine inside my marrow,
The drum beats of my heart,
The bar built inside my head.
For you alone, sweet Ikaidu;
Is the woman of my life.

Obella Stephen