Liberian Classic
In Celebration of Bai T. Moore
Ko Bomi Hee M Koa
THIS VERSION OF A GOLA POEM BECAME VERY POPULAR AROUND 1956.
Ko Bomi Hee M Koa [Verse IV]
Gola** Version
koa mu wo wo mambu
o wande gongoeh
ko bomi hee m koa
ko mi nyinia kei ma
ma jeima wuye m zoo
Ko Bomi Hee M Koa
English Version
go tell my mambu
to stop worrying
to bomi i'm going
where i'll do my stuff
and sweat it out hard
**The Gola tribe is one of the tribes in Liberia. They are often believed to be one of the earliest groups to migrate to the landmass we today call Liberia. Their language is also called Gola. They are one of the local tribes that lost their script over time because of inter-tribal conflict and disuse.
Today, the Gola Script is considered one of the ‘dead scripts’. There are no known speaker and hardly any full version of the script. The text above was Mr. Moore’s ‘anglicized’ or ‘Romanized’ version. It was not written in the original script.
The Gola Script is one of the six indigenous scripts developed in Liberia, making Liberia one of the only nations to have developed as many indigenous scripts all of which are unrelated to the other.
