Ode to a Chicken Bouillon (in Swahili)

Mimi kuko kikombe
Jillsi-kaa
Kiburdisho bufulo-chapati
Gubika jiko-blanketi
Zongwa,kichaga
Dengo,dengu, uji
Kidogo, mtu,kabicha,uji
A watu-mashendea -dengu
Mimi-kwango kuku uji
Gala mimi maji,gala mimi uhura huria

Translated by Joash (brother of Suzanna) who presides in Nairobi, Kenya

I am a chicken bouillon
Square
Unmoving
A flavored crouton
Wrapped in tin foil
Sealed in a jar
Soup potential
Some people are minestrone
Some people are chowder
I am broth to be
Give me water and set me free

In its original English version written by Dan Allen

kuku = chicken

kikombe = soup

dengu, denga = stew/chowder

mimi = me or I

gubika jiko blanketi = covered with a kitchen towl
(they have no tin foil there)

(nor)croutons = (improvised) salty bread broken into bite sized peices

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