Tag: Poetry

  • Africa

    Africa

    The land of my forebears

    The place where my placenta rests

    The lands upon which warrior bloods flow


    I desire to speak of her achievements

    And I stand to ponder


    What can I speak about?

    This causes me to wonder

    Do I speak of achievements?

    Do I speak of failures?


    Do I speak of the past?

    Or do I speak of a future?


    Oh I’ll speak of her future

    A future so bright

    So full of hopes

    That East and West clings to its glamours


    Yet, she is bleakened

    Darkened and exposed at her core

    With the many beguilements that plague her

    Deceptive promises

    And the shortfalls of wily leaderships

    Beguiled with shortsightedness

    And selfishness

    With corruptions

    And insecurities

    And pessimistic views that seem justified


    She appears cursed

    Like a child whose choices mock his own potential

    And like a woman

    Given to pain in the very act that brings her joy

    Is the African cursed?

    The very things that bless her beguile her?


    A mother to great civilisations

    Of the plains near the great nile, Egypt,

    Of the plains of the vast Sahel, Nubia,

    Of the forests, Monomotapan dynasties

    Yet, has she fallen to corruption?


    Friends no longer friends?

    Where are the ideals that moved those who went before us?

    The ideas of Nkrumah

    Convictions that moved the Madiba

    Determinations that strengthened the Sankaras

    These shredded off the chains of imperialism

    Where are their remains?

    Where are the offshoots?


    There is a clamouring darkness

    Calling for lights

    High intensities

    Fierce and able to set new courses

    I look forward

    Hope beams me up

    Arise compatriots!

    Be strong!

    A great light beams up hope ahead

    For this dent of corruptions appear only as a chink

    A chink into the armour that girds our hopes

    Because I see upon the horizon

    A generation that makes the difference

    We are the offshoots you asked for

    The remains of ideals

    Planted by Nkrumah

    Watered by General Sankara and the Great Lumumba

    And tended by the nourishing wisdoms of the Madiba

    God bless Africa!

  • I am Hausa

    I am Hausa

    I am Hausa
    A proud Hausa
    My heritage gives me the privilege
    For which I am who I am

    You may know me as something else
    But that is just your opinion
    Listen, let me tell you about myself

    My origin is rooted in the travels of the great Bayajjida
    The traveller from Asia
    As a traveller, he came to settle in the northern regions
    South of the vast Sahara desert

    My people are farmers and hunters
    I am a proud tiller of the soil
    Animals skip at my appearance
    Yes, I am a descendant of great hunters

    You may have eaten some of my delicacies
    Like masa, tuo masara, kunu ngida
    But there is more you are yet to taste
    Like gotte, pette, tuo shinkafa, kunu shinkafa
    And lots more!

  • The End of Injustice

    The End of Injustice

    Who do I hush out with?
    Who do I ponder the stiffness of life, and the unbalanced hand of justice with?
    Who is ready to listen?

    Everyone is blind
    So do I gouge out my eyes?
    No!
    Does that not sound foolish?

    “The blind cannot lead the blind …” No! not on the Path!
    There goes the thought of an Ancient Man of renown
    They who see must determine the course of action

    But do we see?
    What is right?
    In today, right is subjective …

    But an assurance remains…
    Of a day which comeths
    A day which is very nigh
    When those who see would lead and those who lead would see …
    Yes! That day dawns upon us where those who see RIGHT, would be called leaders (by definition).

    Let our eyes see …

  • Anxiety

    Anxiety

    Walking down the stairs
    Jumping within
    Everything’s freezed

    Anxiety everywhere
    Time, too slow
    Yet, very fast

    Running within
    Going nowhere
    To and fro within

    Sad within
    Happy without
    Walking about

    Haiku about
    Haiku ahead
    Haiku all around