AFRICA POEMS AND PROVERBS

African Diaspora ====================== In the diaspora he sat down; And there he wept; Remembering Africa; Mouth open, unable to a song. Eyes full of the ocean; Mouth imploded with praises; Thought stacked full of memories, Memories of Motherland Africa. In bits he uttered; Africa, my cherished home; In the diaspora unable to a song; I want to come to thee. Chief Charles O. Okereke Copyright ©2002 Chief Charles O. Okereke Click For Other Poems by Author

African Phoenix ====================== Out of the ashes of a phoenix A new African phoenix is born As black and as famished as ever Carrying the same loads of thorn The same batches of infamy Of disease, of wars, of hunger The same scars in the horn As politicians to each others whisper Sweet lies; with no conscience to scorn As they exhale and praises inhale over dinner And more ranks to their siblings adorn Africa stands aloof as distant as ever As unique as an alien unicorn Writhing in mounts of litter Burdened, broken and outworn

PREZZO'S POEM ON THE PASSAGE TO ETERNITY OF GOLDIE

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Ants are great teachers ( Pr 30:24-28 ). There are things you can learn from ants that will help you succeed professionally more than your academic or technical education. Ants are diligent and prudent: diligent by working hard without coercion, and prudent by saving part of all production. These two basic necessities for success are generally neglected in modern societies, where pleasure is worshipped and deficit spending is encouraged. What is a sluggard? A person who is slow, lazy, and does not like to work hard. He is a pain to those trusting him ( Pr 10:26 ). Diligent men will be successful ( Pr 10:4 ; 12:24 ; 14:23 ; 22:29 ; 28:19 ), but lazy men are losers ( Pr 6:10-11 ; 12:24 ; 19:15 ; 20:4 , 13 ; 24:30-34 ). Sluggards are too arrogant to be taught ( Pr 26:16 ), so Solomon mocked them with ants. If they were to watch ants for a few minutes, these haughty bums could learn success, for ant

Wisdom and success are only a couple clicks away. What are you waiting for? The God of heaven inspired the wisest and richest king to compose witty sayings full of advice for you to prosper in every part of your life. Nothing is off-limits in this fabulous book of the Bible. The commentary is practical, hard-hitting, current, and spiritual. There is not a better one anywhere.

'Africa my beginning, Africa my end. I was born here and I will die here' Africa you bear my hopes and fears Poverty, famine, crime and AIDS are words which plague Mother Africa's name These demons bring me shame While people try to make Africa better, a few let the hardship overpower them Shame on them They give up hope and go about their knavish ways Even though there's hope on the horizon, be that as it may They continue to destroy what little Mother Africa has Africa is no longer what she was 'Mother Africa is weeping' Yet a new dawn may be creeping Mother Africa and her children are beautiful, they know their place in nature Even though hardship may corrupt good nature In the name of ALL that is good, I hope Africa will rise one day   And we'll stop the suffering before she frays The words upon a famous poet, I hear 'Africa my beginning, Africa my end. I was born here and I will die here'   Mthoko Mpofana

Patience is the key which solves all problems. ~ Sudanese proverb Hurry, hurry has no blessings. ~ Swahili proverb Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. ~ Bantu proverb To run is not necessarily to arrive. ~ Swahili proverb Patience can cook a stone. ~ African proverb A patient man will eat ripe fruit. ~ African proverb At the bottom of patience one finds heaven. ~ African proverb A patient person never misses a thing. ~ Swahili proverb Patience puts a crown on the head. ~ Ugandan proverb Patience attracts happiness; it brings near that which is far. ~ Swahili proverb Always being in a hurry does not prevent death, neither does going slowly prevent living. ~ Ibo proverb However long the night, the dawn will break. ~ African proverb

He who loves the vase loves also what is inside. ~ African proverb It’s much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. ~ African proverb Coffee and love taste best when hot. ~ Ethiopian proverb Where there is love there is no darkness. ~Burundian proverb If you are ugly you must either learn to dance or make love. ~ Zimbabwean Proverp Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you. ~ African proverb To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better. ~ Wolof proverb A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. ~ African proverb If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. ~ Egyptian proverb Love never gets lost it’s only kept. ~ African proverb Never marry a woman who has bigger feet than you. ~ Mozambique proverb One thread for the needle, one love for the heart. ~ Sudanese proverb Love has to be shown by deeds not words. ~ Swahili proverb Love is a despot who spares

One who plants grapes by the road side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem. ~Ethiopian Proverb Beautiful from behind, ugly in front. ~Uganda Proverb The skin of the leopard is beautiful, but not his heart. ~Baluba proverb Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty. ~Nigerian Proverb A beautiful one hurts the heart. ~African Proverb Anyone who sees beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor. ~Yoruba Proverb The surface of the water is beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on. ~Ghanaian Proverb If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness. ~Nigerian Proverb You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. ~Congolese Proverb The one who loves an unsightly person is the one who makes him beautiful. ~Ganda Proverb Having beauty doesn’t mean understanding the perseverance of marriage. ~African Proverb You are beautiful because of your possessions. ~Baguirmi Proverb Every wom

1. There is no pond which the sun cannot dry up (Kenya) 2. "Though I am not edible," says the vulture, "yet I nurse my eggs in the branches of a high tree because man is hard to be trusted" (Ghana) 3. To avoid fraud (or since God does not like wickedness), God gave every creature a name (Ghana) 4. To borrow is to spoil friendship (East Africa) 5. To eat much leaves you with a swollen belly (Kenya) 6. To stir (the water in) the pond brings up the mud (S. Africa-Azania) 7. Two friends share the white ant (Uganda) 8. Two male hippos do not stay in the same pond (S. Africa-Azania) 9. We are born from the womb of our mother; we are buried in the womb of the earth (Ethiopia) 10. We do not see God, we only see His works (Ethiopi 11. Wealth is dew (S. Africa-Azania) 12. What God puts in store for someone (or preserves for the poor) never goes rotten (East Africa) 13. When a sweet potato has been thrown into the ash-heap it becomes uneatable (S. Afri

 Make some money but don’t let money make you. ~ Tanzania It is no shame at all to work for money. ~ Africa He who loves money must labor. ~ Mauritania By labor comes wealth. ~ Yoruba Poverty is slavery. ~Somalia One cannot both feast and become rich. ~ Ashanti One cannot count on riches. ~ Somalia Money is sharper than the sword. – Ashanti A man’s wealth may be superior to him. ~ Cameroon The rich are always complaining. ~ Zulu The wealth which enslaves the owner isn’t wealth. ~ Yoruba The poor man and the rich man do not play together. ~ Ashanti Lack of money is lack of friends; if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be related to you. ~ Yoruba With wealth one wins a woman. ~ Uganda Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. ~ Akan A real family eats the same cornmeal. ~ Bayombe If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Congo Money can’t talk, yet it can make l

1. The guest has tastier snuff (Kenya) 2. The hand of the young does not reach the high shelf; that of the elder does not go into the gourd (Nigeria) 3. The hen comes from the egg and the egg comes from the hen (S. Africa0-Azania) 4. The hyena does not forget where it has hidden its kill (S. Africa-Azania) 5. The leopard that visits you is the one which kills you (East Africa) 6. The mother of a great man has not horns (i.e. she is a simple woman) (Kenya) 7. The mouth is the radio (transmitter) of the African (Kenya) 8. The one who is too talkative leaves his mouth empty (East Africa) 9. The one whom God clothes will not go naked (Ethiopia) 10. The plant protected by God is never hurt by the wind (Rwanda) 11. The poor man's main tool is his tongue with which he defends himself (Ghana) 12. The stick of God does not cause one to cry (i.e. it is not painful) (Kenya) 13. The strength of the crocodile is the water (S. Africa-Azania) 14. The warmth of a rock is

To be without a friend is to be poor indeed.  ~ Tanzanian proverb Hold a true friend with both hands. ~ African proverb The friends of our friends are our friends.  ~ Congolese proverb A friend is someone you share the path with. ~ African proverb Show me your friend and I will show you your character. ~ African proverb Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. ~ African proverb Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough. ~ African proverb A small house will hold a hundred friends. ~ African proverb A close friend can become a close enemy.~ African proverb Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends.  ~ Gabon proverb

A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place. ~ African Proverb A united family eats from the same plate. ~ Baganda proverb A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. ~ African proverb If I am in harmony with my family, that’s success. ~ Ute proverb Brothers love each other when they are equally rich. ~ African proverb Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb There is no fool who is disowned by his family. ~ African proverb Home affairs are not talked about on the public square. ~ African proverb If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them? ~ African proverb He who earns calamity, eats it with his family. ~ African proverb Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses her teeth. ~ Akan (Gh

Unity is strength, division is weakness. ~ Swahili proverb Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~ Bondei proverb It takes a village to raise a child. ~ African proverb Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb Many hands make light work. ~ Haya (Tanzania) proverb Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. ~ Swahili proverb Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. ~ Tanzanian proverb A single bracelet does not jingle. ~ Congolese proverb A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. ~ African proverb If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb

1. Never mind if your nose is ugly as long as you can breathe through it (Zaire) 2. No one shows a child the Supreme Being (Ghana) 3. One bird in the hand is more valuable than two in the woods (Kenya) 4. One does not follow the footprints in the water (S.Africa-Azania) 5. One finger cannot kill a louse (Kenya) 6. One fly causes the whole carcass of a cow to rot (Kenya) 7. One man's stomach does not work for the stomach of somebody else (S. Africa-Azania) 8. One mouth cannot drink from two calabashes at the same time (Uganda) 9. People get fed up even with honey (Uganda) 10. Rather than praise yourself, you should be praised by God (Rwanda) 11. Sleep killed the lion (S. Africa-Azania) 12. Stolen things bring in misfortune (Kenya) 13. The calabash of the kind person breaks no (Nigeria) 14. The clan of "I will do it" was overtaken without having done it (Kenya) 15. The cock drinking water, raises its head to God in thankfulness (Ghana) 16. The

1. He that has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world (Kenya) 2. Hearts cannot be lent (S. Africa-Azania) 3. Heaven never dies, only men do (S. Africa-Azania) 4. Houses built close together burn together (S. Africa-Azania) 5. However kind a man is, he would never give his wife as a gift to friends (Ghana) 6. Hunger does not know an elder (or a king) (Uganda) 7. If God dishes you rice ina basket, do not wish to eat soup! (Sierra Leone) 8. If God gives you a cup of wine and an evil-minded person kicks it over, He fills it up for you again (Ghana) 9. If the calf sucks too greedily, it tears away the mother's udder (Kenya) 10. If you do not spare a day to fix a door to your room, you will waste three years searching for your money (in the room) but you will never find it (Ghana) 11. If you want to speak to God, tell it to the wind (Ghana) 12. In a community of beggars, stealing and not begging, is considered a crime (Ghana) 13.

1. Axes carried in the same bag cannot avoid rattling (Kenya). 2. Cattle are born with ears, their horns grow later. 3. Cattle lick each other because they know each other (S. Africa-Azania) 4. Chiefs are not chiefs to women (Uganda) 5. Children confer glory on a home (Nigeria) 6. Cunning does not last for a year (S. Africa-Azania) 7. Do not abandon a child when it has an itching sore (S. Africa-Azania) 8. Do not desire a woman with beautiful breasts-if you have not money (S. Africa-Azania) 9. Do not laugh at the snake because it walks on its belly (S. Africa-Azania) 10. Don't cut a carrying strap for a child before it is born (Kenya) 11. Faeces is the food of flies (Uganda) 12. God arranges things so that a leper's sandal breaks under the camel-foot-shrub, which provides the rope to mend it (Ghana) 13. God exercises vengeance in silence (Burundi, Rwanda) 14. God goes above any shield (Rwanda) 15. God is never in a hurry; but He is always there at t

1. A big goat does not sneeze without reason (Kenya). 2. A child does not laugh at the ugliness of its mother (Uganda). 3. A fig tree found on the way is enough to keep you from starving (S. Africa-Azania). 4. A full stomach does not last overnight (Uganda). 5. A house that is built by God will be completed (Ethiopia). 6. A lion does not eat its own cubs (Kenya). 7. A log thrown into the water does not become a crocodile. 8. A man on the ground cannot fall (S. Africa-Azania). 9. A person cannot dance well on one leg only (S. Africa-Azania). 10. A stick which is far away cannot kill a snake (Uganda). 11. A sweet taste does not remain forever in the mouth (Kenya). 12. A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it (Ghana). 13. All that we do on earth, we shall account for kneeling in heaven (Ghana). 14. An African should not be made to suffer the loss of an arm from a gunshot in Europe (Ghana). 15. An egg never sits on a hen (E. Africa)