(Here is a dark-skinned robot called Bol,
Herding cows by the banks of the Nile.)
Maker:
They are scaring away the cows, Deng.
They made them dark-skinned
So they can resemble us,
But how they run is making the cows dash
Into the acacia trees.
We were told they will arrive at the arrival
Of the next crescent moon,
But see, they crossed the river by midday.
I saw one that has teeth like a clansman I know.
Let us drive the cows away from the banks
Of this river they know.
I shall strike one that comes closer
To my piebald bull.
Deng:
In the nearby cattle camp,
They did not mourn when cattle raiders
Killed fifteen cattle keepers.
The factory said the water inside their white
Eyeballs evaporated in the Nilotic heat.
They just assembled and dashed into the reeds.
This poem emerged as the winner of the 2023 African Writers Awards for Poetry.
