Ghanaian poet Adjei Agyei-Baah wrote the following poem in response to a Yorùbá song previously published here (see To Palm Wine).
Let me pour you
in the bustle of late bees…
Bee
There is a Swahili proverb that says “Huyui kilacho nyuki, asali hungeiramba” — “You do not know what the bees eat. If you did, you would not lick up the honey”. The following song by taarab singers Siti Muharam and Mohamed Issa Matona of Zanzibar, explains why this may be.
Bee, you make me sad
Truth I tell you…
On Chewing Khat
Khat (also spelled qat or qaat) is a flowering plant native to the Northeast African peninsula (the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia). When chewed it produces a stimulant effect similar to amphetamines. The talkative high that emerges has made it popular for a variety of social occasions.
When I eat of this Qaat plant I find it to inspire
It helps me to take a seat among notable peers…
At the New Moon
A children’s song from the Nandi of Kenya (see also Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me for another Nandi song for children) celebrating the arrival of the new moon.
When the moon is new
The children, if they are Nandi,
