Friday, February 25, 2011

Rains in our village Akot

By Atok Dan Baguoot

Far south at the leeward of greater Nuba mountains 
Our village Akot is situated North
At the confluent of the greater Nile River
Akot is the village we called home 
Far east to the noisy Heglig oil fields near Parieng town
The sunset there every day

Beneath Akot soil 
Situated in a fertile semi-arid desert 
A black cotton soil
Pan-Akot in Unity State 
It is a village short of a modern settlement
But an upgraded traditional settlement 
A decent natural African village 

Children don’t go to schools
Never do they attend to regulated vaccinations 
Talk not of hospitals where mothers deliver
Mothers die in labor
Babies die of preventable diseases  too
Children born in breach delivery are called Aluong
It is my childhood name 
They come by their legs
In towns, mothers are operated to deliver

In the scattered settlement of our village 
Passes a snake-like footpath seldom used by vehicles 
Children are always scared of passing vehicle 
Whenever a child cries 
Parents frighten him of being donated to a passing vehicle
Children are tricked into being eaten by vehicle
Frighten that those carried by vehicles are surrendered to be eaten

In our village 
The vehicle is the most feared monster ever by children 
Its breakfast is disturbing child, 
It dins on the least disturbing ones
Docile ones can be spared by this monster
Vehicles are next to Agaar Dinka known for cannibalism 
Whom we believed to eat even adults not only children 

In our village Akot
Elders jealously rear for from beasts 
In Akot village
We could roam among well artistic grass thatched huts 
Evenings are our best moments in Akot 
We could gather
To watch spices of birds migrating to the Nile 

We could labor counting the countless varieties of birds 
We could quarrel over the ownership of migrating beautiful birds 
We could fight
Wrestle and keep fighting to the next day
We could divide moving birds to avoid fights 
We could divide the flying flock based on colors 
Each and everyone could own his/hers 
They are beautiful 

In our village Akot
We could gather to smile
Touch and glare at the blossom shrubs 
Flowers are rare but beautiful at the buds
In our seasonally dried village 

April rains always come with a cold breeze
We could sing and sing in a quest for rains 
Rain of our grandfather 
Come quickly so that we go to chew frogs (junks) in Panaruuda
rain comes with blossom  

Signs of rains in Akot come from the south with hot breezing 
Elders called it Padhuap-Deng
It is where rains never stopped 
When humid starts
First rains in Akot are always stormy, noisy
It brings hailstones 
It knocks down improperly erected huts
Even Luaks of cows 

Children dance in the rains while collecting slippery hailstones
Children do wrestle over hailstones
They easily diffuse in their hands
Hailstones could be loose ice particles 
Children love chewing these hard particles, 


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