Best Addis Poems

Addis Ababa pulse,
Blue Nile passion flow
into the heart of a Mtoto midnight

Tropical forest desires,
soft Harari waves moving
at the tidal touch crescent height

Jijiga sepia legs
dancing Danakil closer to ebb dreams
Anticipated pleasure from the static electricity

Nubian swaying hips,
snowflake moans Mekelle melted
Zebra fire kiss ... burnished lips of...

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Oh! Mother Africa!
From the East to the West, from the North to the South of     
                     
Africa is strife, killings, starvation...

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When I look at the Nile or Niger
My heart overflows with joy for such a wonder 
As currents daringly flow on each iconic river 
Every fountain has wealth embedded in its waters
Each mountain, sealed by the richness of history
This is the reason I recognize a...

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Its creation’s simplicity still stands as a difficult puzzle
head is twisted backwards while in a forward motion
still looking behind at the chronicles of some centuries ago
long before the infiltration of Christian missionaries and Arab traders
is the exact factor making its existence seemingly complex.

Foreign politics and...

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In the night when I can not sleep,

when I dream about dreaming

when even God is sleeping

and the devil is out looking

for lost souls.

I think about silly things,

I think about the baker

who just woke up, his

poor wife, leaving a

warm bed for a warm

oven, the small old

security...

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A place to be; a home to live,
Full of cultures and traditions,
rivers of live.
In crossing the Mediterranean,
‘criss-crossing’ the continent, you see…


A mountain of rivers,
running the Niles to desert,
crossing the Niger to the ocean,
a Congo in the Basin, an orange of waters,
the Silver of  Gold...

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1.

Calm descends,
feathery, misty, settling gently on this city’s breath.

Elusive sleep,
teases,
hiding amongst the clouds,

while silver ribbons of moonlight, caress the concrete.

2.

Midnight in Jo’burg,
alone, in this wild-eyed, crazy city,

warm and cruel at once,

ragged, torn, sublime,

brimming with African life,

alive in an African summer night.

3.

Zimbabwe, you are us,

Morocco is...

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In Kampala African queen lives
In Johannesburg African queen sleeps
In Nairobi African queen smiles
In Lagos African queen sings

In Kinshasa African queen dances
In Addis Ababa African queen debates
In Juba and Mogadishu Africa queen weeps
To Kigali and Accra African queen flies

In Churches African queen prays
In supermarkets African queen...

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“MAGDALENA #6”


today I returned home from 
work and hung my coat up on 
the coat rack. 
I took off my hat and set it 
on the hook right next to it. 
Magdalena came to the door 
and asked me if I had had a 
hard...

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The Beginning
By Joji Varghese Kuncheria
 
Four decades ago my sojourn started,
In my mid - twenties, as to be precise,
A journey of a lifetime so joyous,
By a lad daring, bold and determined,
To perceive, explore and conquer the world,
From my land of coconuts and spices,
To the horn...

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The European Sauna Marathon does take place
during the coldest winter afternoons in each year
in Otepää in southern Estonia with no fear;
That place called the "winter capital" race takes place there.

People from around the world gather to cheer
for the marathon during the middle of the winter...

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"MY DEATH"

when it comes for me
there won't be a sound
but I'll know it when 
it gets here because it
won't be here to take me
for the first time.
I met Death the day Eddie
and Robert were taken.
I was brought back to 
father Addis and after 
all three...

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"THE PACIFIC AND THE SPEAKER"


$260.00 in my bank account.
34 years old.
240 pounds.
2 failed relationships,
well there were more than 2. 
what I’m referring to is the 
ones that produced children.

as the Midnight Special plays
to my Pacific, I speak truth
about these two whores.
they chose the cock over...

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By Izunna Okafor



Beyond the shrubs of Sahara 
Lifted a munt of brainy bond 
Over the Mississippi of Ethiopia
Lofted a penner with his hunky thoughts

Across the bridge of a foreign land
Hovered a book of beautiful pages
Tightly enclaved yet as an Ireland
In a skull rounded in the clime of...

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