Like the full moon at night
They dominate the stars
Apiyo and Acen
Are Jok names
Twins are joks
Akelo is the one
Who comes after twins
Ajok and Ajara
Grow extra fingers or toes
Adoc comes out
Of the belly feet first.
Akot (Okot) does not mean
“Born in the rain,’
But ‘afterbirth
Contained bubbles of water’
And this is a sign of rain.
…
The first born
May have a name
But he is always called Okang.
He is the first
To listen to the songs
Of birds;
He is proof
That the woman is not barren;
He is the owner of the shrine
That shall be built
In honour of his father.
He is respected. (SoL, 84-6)
Lawino’s expertise in explaining Acoli names is a reflection of her creator’s deep indigenous knowledge that he used as a resource and crafted in his poetry. It is important to note that Lawino is here gender insensitive as she mostly explains female names. Among the Acoli, female names mostly begin with ‘A’ while that of the male begins with ’O’. Okot cleverly explains the meaning of his name but using the female name ‘Akot’, thus writing himself into his poetry.
The lines mostly contain two or three words but where an explanation is needed, the numbers of words increase, losing the staccato structure. The focus is on the meaning rather than the poetic structures. Each Acoli name has a meaning unlike the ‘borrowed Christian names’ that Lawino rejects because to her, they are meaningless just like Ocol says Acoli names are ‘Jok names/And he wants nothing/To do with Jok’ (p 84). Lawino’s final verdict on the Christian names is that:
To me
They all sound
Like empty tins,
Old rusty tins
Thrown down
From the roof top. (SoL, 87)