Tag: history

It’s your time

by Chevvy, posted in Poetry

Liberate your mind–

you are much greater

than you think you are

Define who you were–

before you became a slave

to extraction and contraction

Start to know yourself–

prescribed by your own story

in the language of your tongue

It’s time to know your worth–

the value of your golden soil

your ample rivers and sun

You lose it everyday–

just giving it all away

with handshakes of bonded strife

Remember your name–

come into your own light

be the centre of your own universe

Africa, it’s your time!

Author’s note: This poem was inspired by a public lecture delivered yesterday by Kenyan nobel prize winning writer and  Professor of English, Ngugi wa Thiongo,  entitled: “Secure the base: decolonise the mind”

The map depicted in the image above illustrates how large Africa is in terms of space in comparison to other major powers. It is also blessed with a wealth of resources yet Africa remains one of the poorest continents in the world. It is still primarily  the dark continent in terms of electrification. As a continent that was colonised by many European countries while its people became  victims of slavery and oppression, there is a school of thought towards freeing our minds from colonisation and reclaiming  our identity and place in the world.

These Walls

by Chevvy, posted in Poetry

These walls speak

Sometimes too choked with fear

To tell us about what happened here

These walls cry

Tears of dried blood from old scars

Of prejudice and pain behind those bars

These walls scream

Of  silenced voices and separated lives

Edicts determining who endures and who thrives

These walls hide

Exhumed hatred, resurrected from a bygone era

When masked men darted knives of burning terror

These walls hear

Vitriolic words, disguised in the name of the holy book

Claiming promised lands with a stolen verse as the hook

These walls see

How we cower in shadows when we make that mark

That gives our permission for self selection into the ark

These walls know

Who carries blood and dirt on their hands

When we build new walls to extend divided lands

Race of time

by Chevvy, posted in Poetry

You win again.

Filled with resolution,

Fiery determination,

I sprinted and strutted.

Predicting your pace,

How was I to know-

The Spring in your step

The mottled colours of your Fall?

Numbed by your Winter’s breath,

Wilted in your Summer’s heat.

Turning now, there you go again-

Leaving me behind…

With remnants, the residue remains.

Soon, just a ghost of a year

That will haunt yellowed pages

Of history books, stacked high!

A flickering, fleeting wind-

You win again, the race of time,

Blasting the world record-

Filled with olympic breaking news!

Leaving surprised losers everywhere!

Fresh winds of change

by Chevvy, posted in Poetry

I heard their silence

in the winds of discontent,

echoes joining in

the growing chorus.

Hoarse coughs and splutters,

cleared blocked passages.

Throttled resonance

found strange bedfellows.

Aching moans and groans

rose in harmonious howls.

Dissenting voices

rising in the air,

leaving trails of dust

on the graves of buried bones.

New songs composed

for fresh winds of change.

I heard those voices,

recognizing yours and mine-

no longer silent

in the breaking dawn.

Rising…above the flaws

by Chevvy, posted in Poetry

The flaws of humanity–

shredded and torn

tied and knotted

then stitched together

again and again

The flaws of humanity–

stripped and folded

bundled and bartered

then dealing the currency

again and again

The flaws of humanity–

belong to each of us

blood-curdled hands

in marching or folded arms

again and again

Yet still we rise above–

some seek a higher purpose

kissing our blemishes

our bruises and flaws

again and again