RAMBLING RIDDLES

War tale, tales of war

War begins, war ends

Wars cannot finish the multitude

Spanning the entire time of God

I walked, walked and walked I saw two good looking sticks But had no knife to cut them I walked, walked and walked I saw beautiful girls, too But had no money to marry them I cut roadside grass I cut roadside grass And cut a goat’s leg I eat other people’s food I eat other people’s food And forgot to do my work When you point a finger At someone, just remember The others point back at you When a cock goes to the backyard It says cock- coo- coo When women carry their wares To the market, they carry gossip along The cock eats from the filth The hen eats from the filth When the chick also eats From the filth, it should not vomit The stake goes up before It is pinned to the ground So too, your children have come To their ancestral home, with respect The person who holds the ground Can not fall or falter A child who washes his hands clean Can sit and eat with the elders

War tale, tales of war

War begins, war ends

Wars cannot finish the multitude

Spanning the entire time of God

— t. reflexion, Oct 16, 2008

About This Poem

About the Author

Country/Region: NGA

Favorite Poets: Inspired by an article in an old manuscript , It reads:, AXIOMS OF PERFECTION, In the physical order – In the realization of the dream of beauty, In the moral order – In the realization of the dream of love, In the intellectual order – In the realization of dream of poetry, In the spiritual order – In the realization of the dream of the mystics

Critiques

Rett

17 years 7 months ago

Interesting one T.

Makes one think of the multitude of meanings captured withing this piece. War begats war just as woman begets child and man sires said child. Teach the child to eat of the cleanliness and he abhors the filth, teach him the filth and he abhors the cleanliness. There is an old adage of give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats daily or something to that effect. Well done if a little repititious. It reads like a song or a chant. Respectfully, Rett: "We can all be thankful that Picasso wasn't a plastic surgeon." Rett

t. reflexion

17 years 7 months ago

Rett

I tried to capture these short riddles which are starters for the main stories told by the elders during moonlight tale sessions in the village. The repititions are common features in this form of riddles. Thank you for stopping by to read and comment. T.

infinite_dwarf

17 years 7 months ago

T.

Monkey see, monkey do... as Rett says - if you set the right example, and practice what you preach, hopefully others will follow the example as well. Interesting write. ~Jess K. ---------------------------------------------------- -"It is better to be thought of a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt..." - Mark Twain

t. reflexion

17 years 7 months ago

Jess K.

Thank you for stopping by to read and comment. The main challenge is in retaining the sound effect and rhythm, when it is translated into English. Best wishes. T.

Linda Moses

17 years 7 months ago

T

Interesting piece. I like you writing the stories of your homeland. They always have a moral to them for someone to learn from. You are creating a heritage for your children

t. reflexion

17 years 7 months ago

Linda

Yes, to compensate their inability to speak my native language. Mine is a smaller world which I try to preserve by writing, they have a far bigger world in front of them. Thank you for reading, for the comments and the encouragement. Best wishes. T.