"Hape: Black rose ii" by Felix Chibuisi Promise

"Hape, hape, hape !"

The siren of love echoes.

Hape, hape, hape!

"Lerato" beckons on my wall as a bard.

Hape, hape, hape !

She breathes with the finest nose,

And I still call her, "Black Rose."

Far, far, far!

I dream and long for the home of Mandela.

Far, far, far!

I see my toes, dipped in beach sandy of Africa,

And Nelson asking me;

"Lebitso la hao ke mang?"

With his voice, buzzing as a bee

Lebitso laka ke promising song,

Dancing on the fields of Soweto,

From Nigeria touring round Africa,

With an elongated attire calling me Igbo.

Hope, hape hope!

For I shall walk the long walk of this rose;

When mercy seasons justice in this pipe –

Wherein African blood flows

To endless stream of African love:

Dinta will come for nwunye ya.

"A bu m nke gi"

Because you are the Queen of Soweto.

Thusa o Madiba !

For I';m lost to this southern rose…

Glossary

Sotho words and phrases with their meanings

Hape: Again

Lerato: Love

Lebitso la hao ke mang?: what is your name?

Lebitso laka ke: my name is

Thusa o madiba (Help o Madiba...Madiba is Nelson Mandela ancestral name).

Igbo words and phrase

Igbo: a tribe residing in eastern Nigeria,

Dinta: Hunter

Nwunye ya:  His wife

A bu m nkegi: I'm your own

Felix Chibuisi Promise is a native of Umuchu, Anambra State, Nigeria. He is presently a 300-level student of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, University of Benin, Benin-City, Edo State, Nigeria.