Africa my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral Savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is unbent
This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun?
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty
David Diop is a French novelist and academic, who specialized in 18th-century French and Francophone African literature. His research, at the University of Pau in south-west France, focuses on representations of Africa in 18th-century accounts and images by travellers.
Mandela the moral giant
BY ALEM HAILU
Intoxicated with
‘Might is right! ‘
The moral dwarfs,
With beefed up muscles
And iron fists,
Drove home fright
Killing and leeching
Alienated natives
Day and night!
They brutally
Subjugated many,
With bare hands,
For God-given freedom
Who have to fight!
Up on gaining
Back freedom
Revolted by
‘An eye for an eye! ‘
Mandela the moral giant
Declared
“Retaliation what for
and why?
A moral dwarf, like
Ex-bosses,
Degrade myself must I?
Though I was robbed of
Sunlight from a lullaby
Almost to the day
I die!
The ‘peace and considerateness’
Placard is what we must
Worldwide hover high!
All of us are on our way out
Let us make sure
Behind us we leave
Days bright!
Also we must not forget
Among the white
The presence of
The moral giants
Who fight for
Blacks’ right!”
The Ethiopian Herald February 3/2022
I’d tell you in my sleep
BY ALEM KIDANE
If I’m drunk and words don’t make sense
That’s when I will tell you the truth
I don’t know why I feel incomplete
all the time
Your love brings me joy but I don’t understand you
Or maybe I just don’t understand myself
I don’t know where to go from here
Will you promise me forever
I might wake you up from your sleep
And I might rob you from your sleep
But I will forever dream about
you in my sleep
The Ethiopian Herald February 3/2022
