Kondengui
By Dr. P.W. Vakunta
Kondengui,
Not a figment of my imagination.
This awful eponym harbors myriads of tribulations—
Torture, maiming, killing, crimes against humanity...
Kondengui,
Hell on earth!
Lend an ear to the narratives of inmates—
Valsero, Lapiro, Enoh Meyomesse, Vincent S.Fouda,
Atangana Mebara, Polycarpe Abah Abah,
Mounchipou Seidou, Jerome Mendouga,
Désiré Engo, Chi Ngafor, Germaine Cyrille Ngota,
Pius Njawe, Bertrand Teyou, Albert Womah Mukong,
Mgr Ndongmo, Ndeh Tumasah, and ilk,
Their tales make one’s hair stand on end.
Kondengui,
Hellhole, inferno, Sodom and Gomorrah!
Had you been endowed with speech faculty,
Methinks you’d spin yarns eerie enough
To send the faint-hearted to premature demise.
Je m'en doute bien!
Kondengui,
Diabolical habitat wherein lurk vampires,
Emasculators of justice and Mammon.
Kondengui,
Sore finger of a nation at risk;
Have you disfigured God in a bid to implant
a demonic terrestrial empire?
Kondengui,
Acme of irksome oxymoron;
Dungeon in which the guilty become the innocent;
The prey metamorphose into the predator;
And the accused transformed into the acquitted.
Quelle pagaille!
Kondengui,
Your world is topsy turvy!
Clones a-plenty—Mantoun, New Bell,
Tchillore, Brigade Mixte Mobile (BMM)…
Kondengui,
Your bowels teeming with unsettling narratives—
Phony incarcerations, substance abuse, narco trafficking,
Sodomy, prostitution, homicide, suicide, violation of privacy
Aggression, impersonation, quid pro quo…
Kondengui,
Shame of our ailing nation,
Nurse no misgivings that one day
Citizens and denizens will write your story,
It will be a tale of gloom and doom.
A bon entendeur salut!
Kondengui,
In the not too distant future
Those standing arms akimbo today
Will pick up the cudgels and do battle with
Cranks who stoke the flames of animosity.
When that day comes,
The tree of liberty truly will be watered
With the blood of martyrs.
Kondengui,
Be not so proud
Rira bien qui rira le dernier!
In the not too distant future,
You’ll be arraigned for Judgment
Before the Street Committee
When that moment comes you’ll be
summoned to write your own story;
It will be a tale of woe and grief;
Akin to my dirge for the perished souls of Ongola.
©Vakunta 2012
About the poet
Professor Vakunta works for the United States Department of Defense Language Institute, Monterey-California
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