F. Akemfua (Bonanjo, Douala Cameroon)
You knew too well the face of this day
These seasons that fed us with hunger and pain
You wailed out loud
As the cloak of darkness fell
As the chanting of the anthem fell out of rhythm
To the resonating sounds of the drums
You saw the scar- faced land, your land
And the knife sharp and stained with blood
You saw the desecration of the alter of Dreams
Your voice rose like thunder!
And we heard it
We heard it again and again
Hoping it will crack the sky
Hoping it will pierce the deafness of the false gods
Lording over the seven hills Onduaye
And did it?
You could no longer stand the heat of the torturous season
The humiliation of an impoverished race-
As you fired on with your vexed tongue
Who did not think your lips will split off!
I hear silence as after an echo
Silence that soaks like cold rain
I stare into space with dried out eyes
Having wrestled fiercely with life
You could not succumb to death in one piece
You departed in cherished company
Swiftly taken from our midst
Having answered your call
You finished your work
You finished it well.
5th April 2007.
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