Akanmwanatechaab Abdul-Rauf

Ballads of Mama

Lend me a hearing
As I drum out these Ballads of Mama
The Strongest, The Daring
Whose legacy outlives that of the Farmer
Too Great for a day’s ululation
Yours is through to the next generation
With sacred scrolls of your Ballads
Let our voice be heard by younger lads

That never shall we forget
Those sleepless nights with toils
When you sheltered us through Nine
And clothed us against any foils
Then the world heard your painful screams
After water gushed forth in streams
As you stood between life and death
Embracing pain to see our birth

Shall we tell not your nocturnal tale
Where sacred vigils were without fail
When the dead nights saw you alive
while we suckle from your teat of life
And then night became your day
but the day shone sun to make hay
So, dawns never saw you on bed
Just so you see the household fed

Dear Amazing Mama and more
You shall see first heaven’s door
For these ballads sound not enough
To tell the story of an undying love
But with this breathe of life given
We shall continue to tell it to the Living
How glorified your name must be Mama
For you we sing these Ballads of Mama

@Akanmwanatechaab Abdul-Rauf