The Signature Poem

Fulani Migration is my signature poem. It was written in the early 90s and how I loved to perform it in full Fulani regalia! This poem is part of my published collection of poems, The Man Lived, which won the ANA Poetry Prize in 1999. It started a new chapter in my writing, thanks to Professor Zaynab Alkali!

FULANI MIGRATION

He takes his whole clan:
The bulls, proud and forward,
And cows, a harem of them,
The sheep and goats follow
Like shrubs in a forest of beasts,
Then clan dogs and chickens.

Children and feeble old women
And young pregnant wives
Ride the backs of broad cows,
Tall men, slender and weather-beaten,
And boys ripening to men
Constitute the vigilante band.

Through savannahs and forests,
Over hills and drying rivers,
Day and night they migrate,
Following wherever pastures bid,
Caring little for ease and comfort,
Living and moving for their cattle.