By ALEM HAILU
Blue Nile echo from shore to shore,
“Poverty in Ethiopia is no more!”
Above all,
From a precipice
To a valley when you majestically fall,
Thunderous over
The damp dell, mountain gorge when you roll,
As usual
With green, yellow and red
Rainbow arched,
Tell Ethiopia loud-
“You children thee very much adore,
A lip service they now abhor!
‘Blue Nile has no lodging,
Yet it loafs a log hauling.’ “
Blue Nile, about your deeds to talk
Breathtaking, you served well
The industry without smoke,
But now you have an extra work!
Far
And
Wide
Ethiopia will be electrified,
With Blue Nile,
Gebe,
Tekeze… at hand!
Every nook and cranny will get light,
When efforts Ethiopians unite!
The future will be bright,
When a tamed Blue Nile ceases
Unchecked to roar past
Without a respite.
No energy source runs waste
Nor any Plant will suffer a blackout!
Lo and behold Blue Nile will be subdued
For riparian countries’ good!
To contribute a brick,
Ethiopians twice you shouldn’t think.
Farmers have mounted on a peaceful battle,
To cover the catchment with a green mantle,
To make terrace
On each mountain
Take every pain.
To afforest the depleted f o r e s t!
Thus washing on its sway,
Blue Nile conspires no more
To carry alluvial soil away.
Here of course it is good to recall
The message of Emperor Twedrose.
“Dear guests you are
Amid people hospitable
Welcome, welcome
Feel at home!
Roam throughout
Abyssinia you might,
On its grandeur your eyes
You can feast.
The vast array of
Mouthwatering dish,
The country parades
You could relish.
In case you wish
For an adventure,
Still Ethiopia
Is a mosaic of culture!
Of course
It will grab your attention,
Ethiopia’s being
A cradle of mankind
And ancient civilization.
You will see
To its music titillating,
Comes close nothing!
Moreover fails not
To draw your attention,
The affection
Among people hailing from
Different ethnic groups and religion.
But you can’t transport a speck of dust,
Alighted or pasted on your shoe by accident!
So to get an exit,
Shake off your shoe and wash your feet!”
Giving to every dust attention
It is possible to ward off
The problem of siltation.
Besides don’t you think
The forests serve a carbon sink?
Blue Nile echo from shore to shore
“Poverty in Ethiopia is no more!”
As though Abyssinia,
Africa’s water tower
Is a weakling with no power,
On every news hour,
Portraying Ethiopia
A development backwater,
Also scornfully on a dictionary
Painting its people thirsty and hungry
Have no grounds any!
From a rain fed agriculture
Head on
Making a paradigm shift,
Irrigation when Ethiopia further adopt,
The vicious cycle of drought,
Which poses a threat
To its development,
Will give way to a bumper harvest,
Once more rendering Ethiopia
A cornucopia.
Ethiopians be not cool,
Be not cool
Resources to pool!
Lo and behold Blue Nile will be subdued
For riparian countries’ good!
Yet, yet hanging up together
Be high on the alert
Any aggressor to deter!
Many are
Who wear a frowning face,
When development
In Ethiopia picks pace!
Keep open your eyes,
Keep open your eyes
At all time, all space
Where infrastructures
Are put in place.
To the helm of development
Ethiopia will soon catapult,
When its children
In full harness their resources put.
So cognizant of this fact,
Ethiopians allow not
The grass to grow under your feet.
Don’t wait
Behind the campaign
To throw your full weight!
For work, roll up your sleeve
Ready for ‘The Renaissance Dam’
Your sweat
B
L
O
O
D
And life to give.
March out for prosperity
In Ethiopia to thrive,
What we need have
Is a bond-cohesive
A
B-O-N-Decisive.
Go all out, go all out,
Us, lucky we have to count
For seizing such a ripe moment.
Blue Nile echo from shore
“Poverty in Ethiopia is no more!”
Come-on let us not beg to differ,
Of course we could concur,
For all of us will agree,
Our pet dream is to see,
Ethiopia industrialized
Completely transformed!
Laying the foundation,
Where on takes off
The future generation,
Is what begs for
Central attention.
Why, Why and Why,
With our hands
Tucked in our pockets,
You and I
Remain standers by?
Also why
Simply watch the clouds
Glide across the sky?
Must we indeed,
Sowing a discord seed
Allow our rivers run wild,
Turning a blind eye to our need.
Tax payers, if you have
This or that tax arrear
See it finds its ways to
The government’s coffer.
Taxes being
A development backbone
Must be mysterious to none.
Target also rent seekers
That drive spokes
In to development wheels!
The Ethiopian Herald April 2/2023
