Kojina Mbua

Finally, there is silence.

Finally, there is silence

in the bend.

The waves bring back three bodies,

the ocean's heart glitters with impatience

Struck down in the first hours

O my rebel brothers.

I will make a grave for you

in my memory of a mute Cabinda man.

Finally, there is silence

in the bend.

Finally, there is silence.

Igana

When the paths are wiped away

I recreate the savannah routes

with the dust of the palms

of my bloody hands.

What do you want to say? Ah, I find again

the voice of this God of death who

was lying dormant in me.

But I am more than Ngondo Moyula

In the shadow of the magic mountain,

My nights are peopled with dead tribes

I am Ngaka Nzueka*

.

Cabinda standing.

*The new God of life

Kougbô da kou

I walk backwards

Along the walkway of the living

A nail, a nail for my palm.

O that I grasp the falsehood

And that the hammer scourges my heart

Of the Cabinda people from Mayumba

The ocean is silent

And the waves carry offshore

My twisted hope,

my Cabinda dignity,

that walks backwards.

___________

Landa wo is an Afro French poet with roots in Angola and Cabinda. He has been awarded or placed for the 2023 Patrick Kavanagh poetry award, 2014 Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Competition, 2007 Winner Metro Eireann Writing competition, 2006 Winner Éist Poetry competition among others.