What Africa Needs

I will sit by the fire tonight,

Here under the stars,

Here surrounded by the desert sands.

And in my hand I will hold a pen,

And on my lap I will place my scroll,

And from my heart I will write.

I have no rubber close by,

See sometimes reality is too harsh to be wiped out,

Too grim to be painted otherwise

The moos, the neighs, the crows are my ambience,

The giggles, the stories, the murmurs my music

The cold desert breeze my aura as I write

Still I seek no comfort or warmth or shelter

No safety or fun in numbers

Because someone needs to write…for Africa

This is an ode for a beautiful Mother,

Strong enough to birth a gazillion cultures

Loving enough to contain them all in one continent

This is a sonnet for an Amazing Land

Capable enough to attract investors

Generous enough to share its wealth with them

This is an elegy for a Home that nurtures in pain

And seldom enjoys the fruits of her labor

Other continents are greener, after all

This is a poem for One that feeds on dust

Every time another African buys wheels

Big enough to drive them away from her

This is a verse for she that bears it all

Quietly and bravely, hopefully

Waiting for a different generation

A generation like ours

One that is capable

Still one that refuses to simply

Let go of pride and work…

What is poverty if we cannot fight it?

What is good health if we cannot provide it?

What is development if we cannot envision it?

Propagate it, live it, give it to a land so deserving?

Will we all grow up here,

Play in the mud and rocky trails

Swim in the rivers and catch fish

Until we are old enough

To erode the soils,

Mine the rocks,

Pollute the rivers

Kill the fish?

Will we never look back

And pay homage to a land that

Bore us,

Taught us,

Owned us?

Are we really so ungrateful

As to kill Africa?

She who we are

She who defines us

She who holds us dear

See worse than my writing in the cold

Is the thought of what we put her through

Always taking from her

Never quite giving back-

Not even in part;

Do we ever go back

To pay our tributes?

To give credit where it’s due?

To just say Thank You, Africa.

She is poor because we rob her

She is third-world because we drain her

She is malnourished because we are bloated

She is weak and sick because we won’t heal her.

What Africa needs

Is you and I;

The Africans

To own up to our misgivings

To own her as our own

To agree nothing will ever change

If we keep doing lame things

Over and over again

Beyond war and corruption

Beyond drought and floods

Beyond our selfish ambitions

Our misguided will to possess

We are the custodians of this land.

And beyond today,

Beyond our time on earth,

Africa will be.

So she needs for us to grow up

Straighten our legs

Iron out our muscle

Put our heads together,

Our differences aside

And give her a refurbishing

She so badly needs

An extreme make over so to speak.

It all start with you,

Yes you and i.

What Africa needs

Is you and I,

The Africans.