Mother Marabou and River Nile: A Story Poem
by ALEXANDER OPICHO
in Fall 2021
Bakari Akinyele, View from Muuido Island, Seoul, 2021
Mother Marabou kept her two nidifugous babies on the banks of Nile
She got them in her old age when she was beyond any hope of getting a child
She loved the babies with her soul and spirit as any mother in her state would
For that reason, Mother Marabou always went out to hustle for her babies’ food
It was when Father Marabou had walked out on her, citing her aging childlessness
A reason assumed, but later confirmed to dispel any Marabou man worth his salt,
On a certain day when Mother Marabou was out as usual venturing for victuals
River Nile drunk the rain of beer, went drunk and fluvial beyond reason and care
In his stone drunkardness River Nile washed downstream the babies of Marabou
He took them home as a present to his old Mother Mediterranean, in pomp and blague
He lied to her mother that the two babies are plunders of war to be brought up as slaves
The old Mediterranean was overtaken by joy for having sired a brave son like the Nile
She went up in a song and dance together with her son, sending up convectional waves,
Lo! River Nile went back, still somewhat tipsy running upstream to his station of work
He found Mother Marabou looking for her babies, she had already turned the earth
Upside down ransacking it for her two dear babies,
Moon was crying from her flog
Condemned lazy for not keeping the eye on the babies,
Sun had run away in fear
Marabou rabidly slapped, kicked, beak-pricked; used in her military repertoire
Nile feigned not seeing her agony, as she grieved, irate in fear of furious mother,
Marabou asked Nile if he had seen the baby-birds, Nile rudely retorted no
He was too busy to see the babies, when he became a baby sister for fowls
Nile snarled that he was the son of his royal father, the mighty Lake Victoria and
Old Queen mother, Mediterranean Sea, the Northern Star of women in monarchy
How can such a royal son stoop down his princely back to keep the nest-dwellers?
Click shot at her in a scowl, Mother Marabou wailed on for her dear lost babies, lo!
Bullfrog shouted in a frog-speak, from his domain in the bogginess of the marsh-land;
"I saw Nile taking two baby-birds, I saw him; I saw him purloining the two squabs"
Sun surfaced from hideout running to noon station; then Earth went back to her feet
Moon stopped sobbing out tears, then went for the afternoon siesta
in awe Nile roared
Relentless Marabou raged at Nile to bring out babies, Nile roared back but ghastly
"The babies I took were not yours; they were for the Ibis, God safe my ears from noise"
"I am he-woman, I don’t give birth, I have no child," suddenly skylarked voice of Ibis
"Give me my children," cried Mother Marabou
"I have none of your children," snarled Nile
Hot exchange between Mother Marabou pleading and Nile scowling persisted
It was such long before Mother Marabou realized no help was forthcoming from Nile
Marabou approached the two Kabakas of Buganda, to assist her and get the babies from Nile,
Kabaka Junju and Kabaka Ssemogere; both were forced to bury their differences
To help poor Mother Marabou get back her two babies from the rude Nile
The Kabakas came flowing in their royal robes, spotless-white like nothing before
Kabaka Junju’s boundless flamboyance outshining the royal halo of Ssemogere
Poor court-keepers carrying loft the tails of royal robes, lest the mud of Jinja grimes
Robe of Kabaka in royal match to the home of Nile, with hope of solace for Marabou
Royal word of empathy from Junju’s team landed on rude ears of rambunctious Nile
Two royals met molesting threats to stop supply of fish if they keep on snagging, lo!
Junju led the retreat flight, Ssemogere in footsteps, showing no need for court-keepers
Retreating flight was an overtone of the king in fear, leaving Marabou in the lurch,
Tireless Marabou fluttered not in her spirit; she flagged not her struggle for babies back
With passion and stamina no freedom-fighter on earth has ever had, man feasted on;
Marabou chose to dry up the Nile, by carrying away its waters in her negligible beak
Throwing away Nile waters in the faraway lands, embarking on her acts of war zeal
Without minding inutility of her weapon; smallness of the beak drying up Nile waters,
Marabou took drops of Nile in her beak for days and months, but Nile was stone-intact
Goddess of rain, Marabou’s sister, became concerned, she was unpleased with toiling
And miserable moiling her sister is entangled in; she chose to hit Nile below the belt
She withheld the water-rain, beer-rain, and honey-rain Nile often enjoyed sipping
Waters of Nam Lolwe shrank down below his throat; he stopped to spew the waters
Into the self-styled banks of his son Nile, banks of Nile dried up source to mouth
Tides of dehydration held his mother hostage, Mediterranean a dead sea became
The old lady was held captive of thirsty; she began yawning in fright like a baby owl
She cried for help from her son,
Nile was more in despair like one pinching a tor
With no help to his mother, but to go on knees before the irate goddess of rain
Rain goddess ordered him to bring back the two baby-birds, on heels Nile took off
He came back with the marabou babies panting, frothing at mandibles like efunyande
Shy in full gear of humiliation like a king warthog found stealing in the potato field,
He handed over the baby-marabous to their mother, witnessed by her uterine-sister
She godly ordered Nile to vamoose!
Out he went in a whimper like the tail of a snake
Then Mother Marabou began to swim in joys of motherhood, feeding the baby-birds,
Poverty and want proving not a hurdle, thence baby-birds grew up to fowl’s fullness
Genesis of the grand-parent fowls to the marabous of Kampala, sitting all over the city
Now all trees in Kampala, a marabou territory, no man in Uganda can dare touch the
Sprawling Marabou Empire, spanning central Uganda, cooing from Jinja to Wandegeya
Alexander Opicho is a Kenyan poet. His mother gave him six names: Alexander Khamala Ernesto Namugugu Islam Opicho. He is passionate about writing short stories, critical essays about culture, politics, and literature as well as crusading for the rights of the powerless women, children, landless, non-binary sexualities, and the minorities. His poems have appeared in the Caribbean Writer Magazine, Face-2-face-Africa, Luraris Review, Praxis Online Magazine, the Boda-Boda Anthem, the Buwa Journal, the Homintern Magazine and the Transnational Journal of Literature. He has been anthologized in the Agbowo, the Shallow Tales Review, Haiku Africa and the Queer Africa II. He has a dream to plant a million trees, weight-lift seven-hundred kilograms, and speak with fluency, five foreign languages. He is guided by a philosophy that the practice of literature is a praxis of freedom.