A Tale of Two Nations

A nation in jubilation,

A nation in mourning.

A nation shouts from atop a mountain and down the valleys,

A nation groans up the undulating savannah and down the lakeside.

A nation is swelling with pride and much waving of hands,

A nation is seething with anger and much clenching of fists.

A nation is moving on,

A nation is stalled on the cusps of despair.

A nation is in Canaan,

A nation is in the wilderness, facing its Amalekites. 

A nation sighs in relief,

A nation gnashes in disbelief. 

A nation is raptured,

A nation is fractured. 

A nation plumps for Red Later Days,

A nation swallows bitter Orange rinds.

A nation waves its fists against white imperialists, 

A nation swears against black domination.

A nation fills out the streets, thanking God, chanting insults, 

A nation is locked inside, cursing Devil, bidding time.

A nation is dancing in the moon, waiting for the dawn,

A nation is lying in the dark, cheated of her sun.

A nation is waters of joy, bubbling down the streets,

A nation is a caged bird, censored by the gavel, barrels and bullets

A nation is mine

A nation is yours!

Why have things so fallen apart?

Why are we no longer at ease? 

Can’t we put this devil we so love on the cross?

And make a bridge across this river between?

It’s why I cry for my beloved country

For if we don’t muster the audacity of hope,

We might find ourselves locked in the house of guns

Because the arrow of God will surely strike!

Sometimes

Sometimes life is a tumultuous sea, seeking to swallow your boat alive

So you can learn to hold onto the sails of your convictions, as you wait for the friendly tides

Sometimes you got to lose, let it die

So you can gain later, see the green smile of your dreams glory in the morning sun.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned; there is a bend down the road, a river without a bridge

So you can know the way better; become a skilled sojourner.

Sometimes you got to take their insults with dignity

So we can know the levels of your humility.

Sometimes they got to abandon you, let you be

So you can be alone with God, let His voice sink to the depth of your essence.

Sometimes you got to get beaten, bruised, broken

‘Cause every pain is a lesson; every wound holds the seeds of wisdom.

Sometimes you got to doubt it; let your impossible questions known

‘Cause so course is the path to knowledge sometimes; paved by the gravels of second guesses

Sometimes you got to die heart, bleed inside

So you may tell how alive you are; how badly you thirst for that promised abundant cup.

Sometimes you got to go away; so far away

So they can feel the empty spaces within; so your shillings can gain strength against their dollars

Sometimes you got to smile, though what you want to do is cry

‘Cause they ain’t worth your tears; they can’t see the goldmine within you.

Sometimes sorrow will overtake you; crush you to the dust, make a brown paste out of your blood  

So tomorrow you can dance in the sun; grasp its warmth with a new song

Sometimes the night’s dark frock will cling onto your freezing skin with abiding volition

Sometimes when that time comes

All you should know is it last only for some time.

Yet to You . . .

Deep into my flesh, these chains have eaten

Days into decades, I have crawled in this dust of want

This debt of sin is a millstone around my haggard, scaly neck

Yet to You, do I lift my bonny, calloused hands

You who lives yonder, next to the sun

You whose breathe is my very life

Does my voice enter your court?

Will You open if I knock on Your heart?

Will You bid me in, should I knock, despite my stinky, tattered rags

Yet unto You can I only hold fast

For You are the light of my hope

Should I look elsewhere, there will I reap only baskets of darkness

So, send Your hand of comfort to me

My heart is in thorns

My tears are acid onto my flesh

Meet me halfway, make haste towards me

I wanna know Your name

Unto Your heart I wanna knock

Before dust returns to dust

Sigh . . . Sigh . . .

Your feet hasten away

Leaving behind your heart with me

In look into your eyes, squinty and red and joyous

And all you wish I would do is keep looking forever

Being away makes your soul sick

You want me close, inches closer to your chest

I ache with the urge to touch you

But you won’t let me beyond a handshake

You seated there, too busy to admit the voice within

Yet when I ogle, I see heaven in your glinting eyes

You call my name out of the blues

Your voice is soft and thin; it pierces my soul

You don’t want me to go out of your days

Yet you won’t let me into your heart

There is this good story between us

                Which we would rather not talk about

Yet you have put this wall between us

                Which keeps my wishes frozen on my lips!

Perhaps you don’t want your knees to buckle

Perhaps my leprosy cannot let you keep me!

Shouldn't Gnash My Teeth!

The hand of time beats
    like the rhythm of my heart
The silence within thunders
    from the hollow of my being
Slowly, my mind walks back
   across the bridge, into yesterday
But the sun today is so bright
   I shouldn't gnash my teeth

This is the sound of a forlorn dream
This is the death of a sweet stream
You walked yonder the horizon
Into the string arms of love
Into the whirlwind of blessed passion
   the heart of heaven
You are happy now, you are, I know
And i should not shed a tear

The hands of my heart, always will set you free
In the beats of my heart, always your smile will resound
The deep sweetness of our love, always will churn in my soul
And like the tides of sea leaves coral shells at the shore
So do our gone days leaves sugar memories in my mind
And I shouldn't gnash my teeth
No
I shouldn't she a tear.

She is Gone . . .

As I talk now, steam billows from my mouth

It’s cold out here, mist shimmers in the tender morning sun

Wish I could see the mountains, far off, the azure horizons of my dreams

Wish I could cross the yard, hobble into the living room of her heart

But she is gone away, far away

To the land where Eiffel Towers stands akimbo

Where francs buy candies

Where goodnight is bonuit

Where Napoleon is a hero, not a beer

Where Zidane is a football legend

Thought she would be here

Like her name, to carol for me when Christmas comes

For when the strong December winds,

Would gather and rumble in the trees around our tenement

And swirl dust in our eyes as we washed clothed at the outside common sink

I would look into her strong, soft eyes,

So loaded with a thousand, thousand rainbows

And I would sit on my feelings no more

O that she wasn’t actually gone

O that this were just but a dream!

On These Pages Of Life

On these pages of life, so have I scribbled my story
Of dreams deferred, of nights within my soul, rogue desires, sordid addictions
      written with a tipsy hand, eager to leave something etched on these sands of time
      words
      dripping from the crevice of my heart
Talking
      about the glory of a new day's sun
Talking
     about wisdom unused, grumbling within the bowels of my essence
Rising like smoke from the ground, to bring
     cloud of tears on the sky of my eyes

On these pages, so are arranged the days given me
Perhaps not in order -
     rather in the order of chaos or
    chaos of order
Stretching across windswept, parched gullies of buried dreams
Dreams that died stillborn
     and now lying in wait for eternal dawn
Lying in wait for a new breathe of life

When my cup swells with goodness and
    pours out to become the cover of my table
When my gift has been threshed, sifted,
    baked brown from an ominous black
When my vision becomes the landscape of my day
   with rivers of honey flowing between the lush valleys
   thrumming with a million, million rhythms of life
When the echoes of my footsteps carry far
    than the path I have trudged
    laughing at the whirlwinds of my youth
Then - then i when
I will be good to fall onto my shadow
And melt away!