auuuuugh is not my language
english is not my language
english is not my language
they whipped it / from me
english is not my language
english is not my language
english is not my language
bt now / i sell it to back to them
these coins / won't buy
a mother tongue
bt maybe one day / i
cd afford a drum
some sayer man might
some sayer man might
teach me to throat hum
only language i have
only language i have
is not my
english is
be bappa do wup
english is not
shoo wap shoo
bt hell i make the best of
english is
be bappa do wup
english is not
shoo wap shoo
bt hell i make the best of
say what
english wz got
from the auction block
my language sold
in lots
english is not
& i remember
that continent's clap
be dappa wap wap
& i remember
that continent's clap
be dappa wap wap
english is not
bt i will buy
bt i will buy
mine back
(per rum pah pum
whack!)
I love it! And would have loved to hear you perform it... When I was studying post-colonial literature at university I would have really enjoyed reading your work as part of my course. Maybe one day others will have that good fortune?
ReplyDeleteExciting, you give English a spanking here in your smooth indigenous blend.
ReplyDeleteThis poem brought to mind a quote I read recently:
"The fact that I am writing to you in English already flasifies what I wanted to tell you. My subject: how to explain to you that I don't belong to English though I belong nowhere else." Gustavo Perez Firmat.
Excellent quote Mama Shujaa, and I too would love to hear this poem read Maxine.
ReplyDeletePoetry is your language.
ReplyDeleteOkay Maxine, I am not afraid to say that this sheltered son of a postal worker, who was raised by his mother, who was begot by sharecroppers, may have missed a few finer points of this poem. Yep, I am not ashamed to say this black man from the flatlands of Iowa, may be on the outside of this one. Being sheltered in a nieve state of "I am comfortable" may have blinded my eyes & ears.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible that your voice could have enhanced this one. Well, at least for me.
A rightful slap in the face. I like you. i like your stuff lol
ReplyDeleteps once I worked in an immigration centre and on one application one person wrote 'Brown' for mothertongue, def. tongue in cheek...love that lol
Ok all - how many times I have vowed to get podcasting happening on this blog. I'm not going to promise again, but it's still on my list.
ReplyDeleteShaista - Maybe one day!
Mama Shujaa - that quote is FANTASTIC - Soon as I finish this comment I'm going off in search of Gustavo to find out more.
Paul - good point.
Carey - Well, this one did come in a matter of minutes. Maybe I could have toyed with it a little more before posting.
Lorraine - That's a great story! I might even borrow it and poeticise it up :)
lol you can use anything of mine, anytime ;)
ReplyDeleteMaxine, this is awesome and requires no 'toying' in my opinion as too much polish would detract from its earthy qualities. This drives home to me the disgrace of English settlement, to steal a nation's language, a person's history is a heavy war crime. We take this language for granted, forced on innocent nations via invasion and endless 'Friends' repeats, we try to defend ourselves by saying 'it's the language of Shakespeare'! And you've left me with a heavy four-beat rhythm in my head.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. That's really interesting: the idea of a linguistic 'war crime', and one that I think deserves to be pursued. Drum on the four four beat.
ReplyDeleteLorraine, thanks for the lend :)
I was GRROOOOVING to this! (though i know it's serious)...
ReplyDelete