Mariana Let's Elope

Mariana let's elope,
Let's run with what is left of our love,
Let's cross Lolwe and settle in Uganda,
Your dad won't find us,
His roars will echo in the forest,
Squirrels and sparrows will scamper alike,
But we will be safe, safe from his grasp.

Mariana let's elope,
I won't have to creep to your window at night,
Your father heard my whistle last night,
He also heard the chicken noise,
He coughed and pulled something from his bed,
I had to leave with my life,
I hear he is excellent with his bow,
I don't want to be pinned by his arrow.

I met your mum at the market,
Her eyes pierced through me,
She saw through my illiteracy,
You have a degree, you need a man greater than you,
So they say,
But your heart beats for me,
By the river you made a promise,
Before you went to the big city to chase education,
You came back, still for me,
My hoe and hook fill harvest in my granary,
My back shines with the mid day sun as I toil for our future.

But,
That's not what your mother wants,
She wants a man who sits from dawn to dusk before screens and fans,
She wants someone who walks tall in the village,
But bows and begs his boss for pennies he calls a raise,
Yet his land is left to rear crickets and rodents.
She wants someone who raises dust with his car,
Yet spends ages paying for it,
She wants someone who will take you away to the big city,
She wants someone who will make you bear foreigners for grand kids, 
Yes, foreigners who know white cartoons and plastic cars,
But chase after chicken as a game.
Mariana, let's elope.

After half a decade we'll have our family,
I have already rented out my farm for the period,
My account is overflowing with foreign money,
We'll be established in Uganda, life is cheaper there,
We will have our farm and tools,
You will nurse the sick as I nurse our farm,
We will come back and I will be accepted with a huge dowry,
Your father will call me son over a sip of busaa.

Mariana let's elope,
You know Johnny son of Marinda,
He flew to the white lands for his knowledge,
All they did was erode every value he had,
He now only drinks soft exotic liquor,
He drops tears at the smell of liquor that we real men gulp,
Your father wants him for you,
He is thrilled by his English and he claims you'll get along,
Mariana let's elope.

Mariana, let's elope,
I don't want your life to be a routine of orders,
I won't promise you softness and exotic trips,
But I can promise you a lifelong satisfaction,
Let's elope Mariana,
A life awaits us.