So I fair?
Who come bad patapata?
I still dey try
Who come worst pass?

I yellow naim make me fair
My brother different so therefore E bad
Na you come good because you white
Thank God I manage fair, my own don better.

My sister, you no fit white sh`a try fair
If you no fit fly, shey you go still jump?
Take wig make you wear,see cream sef make you rub
No be God? Black na disease wey get drugs.

Thank you Oyibo, you too try for us
If no be you, we still for dey mad
Thank you say this blackness go soon stop
Thank you O, this madness go soon cure.

But no mind me O, I jus wan ask
No jus mind me at all, but why you dey tan?
If black so bad, why you like am.
E wan come be say na you sef dey mad.

Sorry O, but E dey somehow
You no like black but you wan black
Na white better pass, you born half caste
Which kain palaver come be all that?

Oyibo sir, abeg I know understand.
"Master" please help me explain
Jesus, God, Angel: all na white.
This your "wayo" sef, na today?

Everything wey black jus bad
Black magic, black leg, even black heart sef
With your skin like overall eczema,
Na you still wan dey criticize.

But me I never see person wey black before
Me na yellow, my wife brown, my pickin chocolate.
E come be like say na ya own brain black
you no see black but you think black, you imagine black.

So now who come black?
Your coat, your car, everything black
Dye you hair black, smoke your air black,
wear dark shade make you dey see black.

So bros, tell me who come bad.
You wan' come brainwash your slave:
"Black is beautiful"; "black n proud"
you forget say black na state of mind.

You don already black finish
You jus dey shame to talk am
But as you dey resist na ya sef you dey punish.
You wan black, you dey try, so claim am with pride.

"Crazeman wey 'gree don already cure.
So go ask John Hawkins, ask Lord Lugard.
Who come kill my papa, who thief my land?
Black Man!



NEX.

Interesting. I like very much

1love

denex:

So I fair?
Who come bad patapata?
I still dey try
Who come worst pass?

I yellow na�im make me fair
My brother different so therefore E bad
Na you come good because you white
Thank God I manage fair, my own don better.

My sister, you no fit white sh`a try fair
If you no fit fly, shey you go still jump?
Take wig make you wear,see cream sef make you rub
No be God? Black na disease wey get drugs.

Thank you Oyibo, you too try for us
If no be you, we still for dey mad
Thank you say this blackness go soon stop
Thank you O, this madness go soon cure.

But no mind me O, I jus� wan� ask
No jus� mind me at all, but why you dey tan?
If black so bad, why you like am.
E wan� come be say na you sef dey mad.

Sorry O, but E dey somehow
You no like black but you wan� black
Na white better pass, you born half caste
Which kain� palaver come be all that?

Oyibo sir, abeg I know understand.
"Master" please help me explain
Jesus, God, Angel: all na white.
This your "wayo" sef, na today?

Everything wey black jus� bad
Black magic, black leg, even black heart sef
With your skin like overall eczema,
Na you still wan� dey criticize.

But me I never see person wey black before
Me na yellow, my wife brown, my pickin chocolate.
E come be like say na ya own brain black
you no see black but you think black, you imagine black.

So now who come black?
Your coat, your car, everything black
Dye you hair black, smoke your air black,
wear dark shade make you dey see black.

So bros, tell me who come bad.
You wan' come brainwash your slave:
"Black is beautiful"; "black �n� proud"
you forget say black na state of mind.

You don already black finish
You jus� dey shame to talk am
But as you dey resist na ya sef you dey punish.
You wan black, you dey try, so claim am with pride.

"Crazeman wey 'gree don already cure.
So go ask John Hawkins, ask Lord Lugard.
Who come kill my papa, who thief my land?
Black Man!



NEX.

This is the best poem I read on NL. O-boy try post more. De tin sweet no be small.

May I ask if somebody would please post this poem in Standard English? I am not conversant in Pidgin, and I feel I'm missing some of it.

I realize that it will not have the same metrical impact, nor will some of the words be as intense. But, I would like to be able to better comprehend it.

I apologize to the author for my inability to grasp this work, and please know that I'm not seeking for you to compromise its validity nor dilute its meaning. I just want to be able to better grasp it.

Please?

drrionelli:

Please?

Sorry, the poem loses its potency if translated to English.

@Denex

I hope you don't mind me translating for drrionelli do you?

@Drrionelli
Here it is:




So I'm fair?
Who's really that bad?
I'm still trying.
Who's worst off?
I'm yellow, that's what makes me fair.
My brother's different
so therefore its bad.
So its you that's good because you're white?
Thank God I'm fair at least-
My sister, you'll never be white- try being fair.
If you can't fly, would you jump?
Here's a wig- wear it,
Rub cream even.
Isn't it God?
Black is 'disease on drugs.'
Whiteman, thank you, for us you tried.
If it isn't for you, we'll all be mad.
I'm thanking you because this 'blackness' will soon end and cure to this madness.
Pay me no mind, I really want to ask.
Don't mind me at all, but really, why do you tan?
If black's so bad
why do you like being so?
It's beginning to seem that you're mad.
Begging your pardon, but its weird.
You dislike blacks, yet you want to 'be' black?
Its better to being white, and yet you are half caste.
What kind of trouble is that?!
Please, Sir, I don't understand.
'Master' please explain this:
Jesus, God, and the angels- they're all white.
Your hypocrisy, didn't start today.
Everything that's black is now bad: black magic, black leg, not to mention black heart couple with your skin like eczema.
And still you criticize!
I have never beheld a black person before.
I am yellow, my wife's brown and my child's chocolate.
It seems your mindset is dark.
You don't SEE black, but you THINK black, you IMAGINE black!
So, WHO IS BLACK?
Your coat, car -everything's black!
You dye hair, smoke the air, wear dark shades- that you even see black.
So, Bro, tell me who is bad now?
You, brainwashing your slave with clichès like 'Black is Beautiful'; 'Black 'n' Proud.'
You forget black is a state of the mind.
You're black inside out! You're ashamed to say it!
Even as you resist, you punish yourself.
You want to be black- CLAIM IT WITH PRIDE.
''A lunatic who so concurs is cured.''
So ask John Hawkins, ask Lord Lugard. Who was it that murdered my fathers and stole my land?
Black Man!

Bless you, firestar!!  You are extremely kind and gracious to give us this translation! 

And, indeed, now that I can "read" the poem, I do better understand its depth and intensity.  I'm profoundly impressed, denex!  Is this poem published?  If so, where can one find it and others of its type? 

This thread is certianly inspiring!|

Thanks y'all for your appreciation. see Ibime. Shey you see we've met somewhere. Firestar, I never thought of a translation, but you did quite well.

Well I wrote this back in 2005 when I was wondering why our English teachers always insisted that people were not yellow but fair.

I found something very wrong with it cos I knew the word fair in itself was not a colour. It was simply the midpoint between good and bad. So if the fair meant averagely okay, black must mean bad and white would therefore mean bad.

The further I looked into the meanings of words associated with the words white and black, the more I continued to see their true meanings as light and dark, clear and shady, good and bad.

Looking at skin colour, you'd concur that no one has black skin, and no one has white skin except of course a ghost which is most likely imagined. In fact today, I vehemently reject it when anyone refers to me as black. I look at it as directly being called a bad person. I rather call myself and African and I don't refer to Europeans who gave us that black name as white people, I call them by the name we gave them: Oyibo. I don't see why I should generalise all Oyibo people as white when I've not know them enough to be sure they are good.

So that is the philosophy of white skin, black man.


@Drrionelli

haven't had anything published yet.

@Firestar

your translation really is amazing, your choice of words simply wonderful.

@Ibime

thanks again.

@denex

u don start abi, u wan beat me to the crown, omo i no go greeeeeeeeeeeee oh,

dat was nice, very GOOD,

@hansibone


bros I'm not dragging the king of Nairaland Poetry with you sir. But you definitely haven't seen my "Farewell Las Gidi". You'd've given me the crown yourself.

Have you seen my "Lagos Traffic" It's somewhere in these threads.

@denex

ok oh, i go check am, but i like your use of PIDGIN english,

its awesome

I have an idea.

What if nex (denex?) and hansibone (as well as a few talented others) were to put their works together and publish one book of contemporary Nigerian writings?

That way, the costs of publishing could be shared, and everybody who reads the book will be graced with the efforts of these gifted wordsmiths!

@drrionelli


The kind of anthology I'd want my poems in is something that I hope would be used in high schools made in decades to come. The very best of the best. I don't believe just myself and hansibone can do it. We need between 10 - 20 contributor of works. Some may submit 1, some may submit 5, but it should be the very best poetry any young group of Nigerians has to offer for a while to come.

It's beyond two guys putting together a couple of applauded poems. We need more poets.



@hansibone


"Farewell Las Gidi" is now officially posted.

@nex:
That's exactly what I had in mind! As noted in my post, you, hansibone "and a few talented others" (the key word here being 'talented'--any writers with your abilities will surely have much to offer such a project).

Undoubtedly, such a compilation would pique the interest of poetry proponents and literature lovers everywhere (ah, nothing like alliteration!). Regardless of how you do it, however, please continue to pursue your writing endeavours!