A vow, according to custom, is a pact made by a person with herself and her soul, binding herself to fulfill works of dedication with respect to herself, her household, and her community, and thus obtain from all around their grace and appreciation. These were the first fruits of the harvest, for even when Zahra first came unto this place, did she not think, “how could I serve this community?”
To lead / is not thought
Vision holds / love for a people.
A citizen, when she makes a legacy, must be wise, and so Zahra has accorded guidance and counsel to guardians and populace.
Life asks / most urgently
For folk / what are your acts?
A teacher, when she makes a legacy, must be of dependable word, and so Zahra has pressed on through ambivalence and contempt with radiance and grace.
Things change / sand into pearls
Coal to gems / Pressure begets revelation.
A leader, when she makes a legacy, must be of good character, and so Zahra has brought the strength and determination of the Dragon to bear for the most vulnerable of us, and the most uncertain.
Hold high / earnest sacrifice
True bounty / merits accolades
A peer, when she makes a legacy, must be a trusted and experienced person, and so Zahra gives of herself with a pure and peaceful heart, solicitous of the tired, steward of the weary, according all with full respect and offering what she can of herself.
Calm push / fairly dispensed
Can make / creation evolve
A Nǝguś and Nǝgǝśt, when They see great devotion, may recognize such qualities, and thus, so do Ullr and AnneLyse see these qualities in Zahra Tesfaye, as citizen, teacher, leader, and peer, impressed in her as a seal of gold presses wax; which has no choice to be formed except in this way. And thus, did They discern, “How can We see such devotion without recognizing her as a Pelican?”
And thus, done it was, this day, the 16th day of Mäggabit, in the year 2000 of the Era of the Incarnation, as reckoned by those who come where she came, and known also as the 26th of March, Anno Societatus fifty-six, by those who live where she is.
Ullr Nǝguś, Annelyse, Nǝgǝśt
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Ge’ez Oral Poetry forms are complex and written in pictographs or hieroglyphics. I learned about these forms from the European Journal of Philosophy, Culture and Religion, from an article in Volume 2, Issue 1, Number 1, pages 1-15, published in 2018 (www.ajpojournals.org): “GEEZ ORAL POETRY [QENIE]: A STYLISTICAL AND THEMATIC ANALYSIS,” by Isaias Haileab Gebrai.
The Prose sections are (loosely) based on The Law of the Kings, Book 1.
- First poem done in the manner of a Gubaie Qana, from a quote by James Kouzes & Barry Posner.
- Second poem done in the manner of a Gubaie Qana, from a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.
- Third poem done in the manner of a Gubaie Qana, from a quote by Rick Warren.
- Fourth poem done in the manner of a Gubaie Qana, from an Arabic parable.
- Fifth poem done in the manner of a Gubaie Qana, from a quote by Ghandi.