In the far flung

Corner of the country born

There are tribal

Women,still, with ash

Cosmetic, red-soil

-made hair lotions

And plates inserted

In their lower lips

Themselves  their way adorn!



When tourists

Pay such  women

A handsome money

To take  their photo

Young girls follow suit

"Slit your  lower lips

And insert a plate!"

As a motto! //

Though it is good
To bring to the limelight
Women brilliant,
In different walks of life
Who fought their way
To inaccessible height,
We must not forget
Starving-and-
drudgery-saddled mothers
Who their children
To school send
With full stomach
Too deserve
A tap on the back!
This must be also
Included in our talk
Specially when March 8
We mark!

As it sounds sad
For a reason
I can't understand
Even after I extended them
A helping hand
Also a good Samaritan
I shook off their dust
And pulled them up
From the sand,
There are people
Who do  me
Things bad
Daring
"Do good to s/he
Who did  you
Things bad!"
Topsy-turvy
On its head stand.

But up on
A bit reflection
Something bubbles up
To my attention
Despite His
Benevolence untold
That is exactly what
I am doing on God.

Envoy

"Forgive your erring friend
Seventy times seven
If you want Me
To welcome you in heaven!"

Forefathers shedding blood
In a spectacular
Bravery and unity
Heralded
"A violated-not sovereignty
And self confidence"
For posterity!
What is more
An unpolluted culture
And intact identity!

Thus, maintaining integrity
And hard-preserved identity
Getting poverty and lack
Behind our back,
For the coming generation
We have to pave the track
With Mega projects  Like
--GERD--
So that on a bright tomorrow
Our children embark!

A rhythm forever pulsing
Beating
Flowing
Melting
Through fingertips
Through the spine
Through the very fibers
Of the mind
Time
I’m forever chasing
Hunting
Searching
For more
Just a fragment
A taste
A stitch
Cause to find
Where yours and mine
Intertwine

I . Taytu Betul as a leader

Ethiopia is famed for being
A peaceful,hospitable
And warrior nation
How come  then it failed
To come to your attention,
As bees whose hive is threatened,
Citizens are ever alert to
To foil provoked aggression!

The 1889 treacherous
Wuchale treaty
I will tear apart
A messenger,with a tail
Between your legs,
Before you depart.
The Italian version
That tries to put Ethiopia,
A sovereign state, a pawn
Under Italy's protectorate
Is completely opposed to
What Ethiopia's
Versions indicate.

Till we meet
Your colonizing troops
At a showdown,
As a punitive measure to
A cheater or a clown
I will be tempted to smack
Your face
To ram home,valorous,
For fear we have no place.

II  Taytu Betul a strategist

To deny the invading
Italian troops, advancing
from Eriteria,
Advantages of logistic
We could do
The following trick
Indeed, we could shift
The battlefield
From Adigrat to Adwa
Also we could cut them
From a key water point
Till for truce they plead.
To this end,
A battalion
I will personally lead.
What is more,
I will inspire
Women,combatants,too
To fire!
Parallel to that
Our injured soldiers
To nurse back
Wounded in the attack
Also dry foods
To prepare and pack.

III Taytu Betul  as a wife

Though independent,
With lots of love to
Emperor Menelik II,
My king and beloved husband
I will lend a cooperative hand.

IV. A beacon of independence & standard bearer

True to my name  Taytu
— A sunshine—
I will flicker
A ray of light
The oppressed for
Freedom to fight!

Women
For a military prowess,
Leadership and intelligence
Have acumen! ////