Korona Vairosiwa Tugurika (The Battle of Corona)

“Tugurika tom-mu! Tugurika tom-mu! 

Bai le kuli, bai kan kuli  

Piema zik chaab ka dela”!  

Ti koma jam pie wiisanga ayi ka dila  

Ba le Babatu kpalinsinga dila po dila po  

Ate ku teba nyin-biidi, ate ba chiib zaani anag de  

Taa me jinla za tugurik ka choa pielim po  

Da-bienga a kum fiin fiin, pieminga a feri kak! kak!  

Ti mabisa ale ti kobisa alo jata jata a gilim ti,  

Ba ziimu a chale tengka meena se benangsa la  

Alege kperi san kperi, ti deem ze dachiaka jigiya  

Abi ntaamu aweini ka ti tong wa le piema  

Yaase ti che wa ale laasa. Ka jinla le jin. 

Have you read: Village Boy Impressions - Topsy-turvy? 

(“See the armies file forth

Some will return, many will not

For here, iron meets iron”!

Thus, our fathers sang with the flutes

In their battles with Babatu long ago

Drawing strength and courage to emerge victorious.

In our day we stand in another battlefield

The bullets are hissing by, and arrows are finding their mark.

Our mother’s children and our fathers' children are falling around us,

Their blood run like streams, 

Yet, mysteriously we cannot see our enemy

Not to talk of shooting him back

Or cutting him down with our axes. Today is today!)

 

Korona vairosiwa tugurika po ate ti bo.

Dachia-kai te tin maa tu nyala

Jinla ale bo teng zuk de meena

A ko nuriba a cheng.

Wa kan yai wa nag ti vari ka ti nganta;

Wa kan yai ti niiga yaase ti piisa

Wa kan yai ti buo yaase ti kpiina.

Wa be kan yai wa ta ti jo yontiri po,

Aaiya! wa dim bulaa yaali ka taa dek wa ko.

Wa yuei ale ‘Akisimiboka’!

Wa busen ale ‘Akperi saaloa’. 

Ba gela nya wa tuiminga kama a kum

Ba gela me deem se wa wakaasiminga

Ate ba pa wa wienga chim diinta

Ba gela pa chim venta, yaase pimpaasung

Akorona dek bi le poom ayai diila nla

Ate wa nya suik tagli tengka meena a cheng.

 

Read: Village Boy Impressions - When I die

(This is the battle of corona

An enemy never yet seen before

Has appeared all over the World

Arriving to decimate all humanity. 

He comes not to plunder our wealth

Neither our cattle nor our sheep

Not our goats, not our guinea fowls. 

And not even to enslave us does he care

No, but to mow us down is all he desires. 

By the name of “Hater of life” he goes

And his appellation is “Confound humanity.”

Who encountered him now weep in grief

Yet ignorant of his deeds are many yet. 

And some dismiss him as a joke

Others still deign to call him lies or deception, 

All to his great delight;

Being fertile ground for his spread)

 

Ba kan kpi le ngman yiti a de

‘Ndaan din seba’ bi kan yeeri nur wari po abasi

Chaaso! Chaaso! kan nag kpeo ayiti

Fi le seb nyiam le fi le zaan bu noi ngmani

Ka dila nying ti ba wein taa long Akorona la;

Ti nye kukeri a kali yeri be ti basi toglika,

Taa sugri ti nisa ale chiiuk a be,

Ti kaa tag nina yaase taa legsi nyue,

Abi ti nye kukeri avuk noi-gaarika.

Ka dan poom ta wulim yaase ka a kaasi dalung

Ka nyuvuri ale sua jena, nkan je a zunchonga basi tin yiri

Ka daam dema ale weini; suom dan lang chala, fi me lang yuka

Akorona laa ko kum bui la ka nin mita kum

Ti dan ta daamwa kanjanta-nga, ale daam nin lagrimi nga

Ate Akorona aga pa nang tab Buluku po

Dii le di jam la, akan ta womka

Nuwoboa ado wa naab ale bu dua ka teng

Ni te ti yiri zaani, ti ti ngaam yiak wa basi

Nandub yeng kan tiak bokta jenta,

Fi me nye fi magdek tuima ti fi vari fi dek ale saaloa meena basi

Zurugaluu! Lam kan be.

 

You may Also Read: How to Help Ghana (And Yourself)

(The dead rise not to eat, 

‘Had I known’ saves not from trouble, 

Help! Help! Wakes not the dead. 

To know water is to stop at the bank and return

That is the import of the protect yourself campaign;

Stay home and wander not abroad

Wash hands regularly and thoroughly with soap

Then avoid touching eyes and nose

And regularly wear the nose mask.

This last maybe uncomfortable and disturb the conversation,

But life owns eggs and not to fight is better than rising from defeat

Our fathers said it; when the hare changes its run, change your throw.

Death through corona is a nightmare

Being headstrong or playing smart won’t help

If corona knocks at the door of our kingdom

Unspeakable disaster will follow

But the weak may ride his cow whilst it’s lying down

So rise up to drive corona away.

To eat bokta[1] soup, you need all the fingers

Do all you can to save yourself and others

Together, the game cannot escape!)

Go to Blog Home

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[1] Mesosphaerum suaveolens: Common names - Chinese mint, horehound, hyptis, mintweed, pignut, wild spikenard

Duayaw Nkwanta

31/05/2020

Some time ago, my friend Gabriel Mifetu asked me to compose a poem in my language (Buli). Recently again, he asked me to write a poem about the Coronavirus pandemic. This is my attempt to kill both of those birds. I had made an earlier composition about the coronavirus in my native tongue. That was basically a 'translation' into the Buli language, the key measures to stay safe as published by the GHS and the WHO and had little poetic quality in my own view. The composition above is more or less in the same line. Its poetic quality, I leave to you who can read both the English and Buli languages.