“Obi-mgbawa” and “Olileanya” by Nzube Ifechukwu
Ya bu na-eji m obo okpa m gwepia mkpuruobi gi?
Ha! Akpowara m obi gi wuputa mkpuruobi gi?
O’ na-obughi gi wupuru ya bu ola esighi ike n’uzo m,
n’ebe ahu obo okpa m kwesiri izosa?
Koro mkpuruobi gi gwepiara egwepia, ezigbo; jisie ya ike.
Oso,
Tupu onye ije ozo azokpunyekwuo ya
N’ime ime aja
Ebe o gaghi ekwezi nkoputa.
So I made your heart squelch under my sole?
Ha! Did I split your chest to spill your heart?
Was it not you who flung such a frail pearl on my road,
at the very spot my suspended sole was to step?
Scoop up the pulp, dear; clasp it tightly.
Quickly,
before the next traveller tramples it
deep deep into the dune
beyond scooping.
Odini’hu
bu
ala obosara di ka Chi si’ kee ya
a tunyere gi na ya.
I nwere ike
naani
isuchasi ya kuo oka gi
ma
chekwube
n’onye iro agaghi ehughari
iha mkpuru iriro n’abali.
The future
is
a vast expanse of virgin land
you’re plunged into.
You can
only
clear and cultivate your corn
and
hope
some enemy doesn’t prowl about
to scatter tare ears at night.
Nzube Ifechukwu was born on May 25, 1992 in Onitsha, Nigeria. He studies electrical engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has been published in the Sunday Sun (Nigeria) and on Sentinel Nigeria, amongst others.
Language : Igbo
Written, & Translated by Nzube Ifechukwu
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