Africa's Hope

Look at the floor of heaven 
Laid with patterns of bright gold
For us, they are but little orbs 
But in his motion
Like angels, they sing
So many songs of harmony
To the souls of immortals 
And while this muddy vesture of decay
Does gross in them
We mortals cannot hear it.
	
Hold your fortune for your bliss
A gentle scroll
A diamond ring 
All gone
Loss upon loss
Life upon life
Death upon death
Pain upon pain
A man of the people
The villainy the beasts taught him
That he executed
Until things fell apart

Judge him not
And mourn him as a legend
Chinualumogu! 
For whose sake
The Arrow of the gods granted justice.
Christopher Okigbo called them beasts
David Diop called them vultures
For me 
They were weeds on our soil
Colonial masters 
Who awakened our sleeping lions

Achebe threw the bomb 
And died before it exploded 
This cooled his friends
And awakened his enemies
They laughed at his losses
And scorned all his gains
He sought no revenge
Yet his silence scrapped all nations
Thwarted their bargains
And with two heads of fools 
He repaid them for one
And then There was a Country

He chose not what many men desired
And rejected the barbarous multitude; 
Crystallized the inferiority complex
And fought back to back 
For Africa.
No ill luck stirred at first
No tears but of our shedding
No sighs but our breathing
Various creditors sprang
Enemies arose
Yet he'd give up nothing for the wilderness of monkeys
Nor for the generation of wolves

An ambassador of love rarely seen
His pleas were for the taunted and corrupt 
And with his graciously seasoned works
He obscured the shows of evil

What damned error! 
But some superior would bless and approve it with a text
Hiding the grossness with faint ornaments. 
Look on beauty
And you shall see
It is purchased on the weight

Often have you been told
That all that glitters is not gold
Farewell, the hope of Africa
For now, your suit is cold
We love and miss you
But our prayers with you shall be

Oh, Lord!
Arise and await
For his gentle spirit 
Unto you dear God 
Commits itself to be directed
The Beautyful ones are indeed not yet born 
But the born indeed are most beautifully precious
Adieu Albert!

Copyright © | Year Posted 2013



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Date: 4/12/2014 7:44:00 PM
Hi Chioma, ... CONGRATULATIONS:) on having your poem featured on the soups HOME PAGE. <3 =LINDA
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Date: 4/7/2014 5:39:00 AM
A brilliant write. Congratulations on your poem being featured this week , chioma
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Date: 5/25/2013 11:00:00 AM
Chioma, your poem is very enjoyable :-) A nice warm welcome to Poetry Soup. Wishing you the best in your writings. I hope you find this community to be one of the best. May you find inspiration by reading some of the poetry written here by other poets, and myself? If you ever want or need feedback on any given poem, please look me up by clicking on my name anytime you're on line. I'm looking forward in becoming your #1 poetry soup fan. Keep me posted every time you post a poem <3 LUV ~SKAT~
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Date: 5/13/2013 5:59:00 AM
This a brilliantly descriptive poem of life in most African States-- coming from right down the bottom end-- S. Africa-- we see the same. I love the way you have used religious connotations. The last verse is beautiful.
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Onyekaba Avatar
Chioma Onyekaba
Date: 5/13/2013 6:02:00 AM
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH.... I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR COMPLIMENT
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