EMACIATED AND BEGGING REKINDLE

EMACIATED AND BEGGING REKINDLE

What happened to the patriots?
Where did patriotism go?
What ever happened to altruism?
Where did all the altruists go?


I’ve mounted banners and neon coloured fliers
And spoken to the frequent fliers
Even sent out pigeons
In millions
They only came back with minions in millions.

I incarcerated the gun runners
And sent out runners and drummers,
They roamed the land in numbers
And came back bearing zeros in patriot numbers.


Where did the spirit of our forefathers go?
Where did the oneness of our poor mothers go?
Now the land is bejeweled in hotspots and despots
Riding in chariots and overseeing food riots
While hunger and disease take root and flourish


From east to west, the cries of the helpless go unheard
From north to south upheaval sweeps the land
Like the harmattan
Staining our hearts and poisoning our minds.
Show me a land not blighted by war
Show me a place where the common good resides.
What happened to you, oh! shining star of Africa?
Oh!! Africa
I find your light dimmer than that of the swastika.


I remember blood and sweat
I remember toils through day and night
That gave birth to pyramids.
Till this very day,
The world still marvels at the pyramids.


The slave ships are gone
The slave markets are no more
Slave raiders long gone
Soon quickly forgotten.
Nkrumah and Jomo have passed on
Their legacies lie sullied and muddied
The unity they fought for
Now in tatters and ruins.


New leaders are born,
Their names cloaked in democracy
And all inclusive governments.
But they only come to pillage and pilfer
With very little to offer.
They hand out rewards and awards
To cronies and hordes I refer to as cowards
Their actions untoward
Their very ways crooked and warped.


Now the black star barely outshines a lit candle
Now the black star lies emaciated, begging rekindle
With disease, poverty and carnage the cause of its dwindle.
What happened to service to the people and all?
What happened to the altruists, the patriots and all?
Please someone point out the
Asantewaas, Nkrumahs and Jomos amongst us?
I beg you; please find just one of them amongst us.


Those were selfless leaders
They were the free givers.
Though never perfect rulers
They were honest leaders.
Those were honest rulers
Those were the true African leaders.


All I see now are a few good men
Drowned by hordes of cowards and Judases
Who refine our sweat into sweet tasting molasses.
They hide behind veils
And tell us tales
While sipping on sweat flavoured molasses.


Where did all the good people go?
When did we lose our way?
Where did we turn in mistake?
Where did all the patriots go?
Oh!! Africa,
Please point out your Nkrumahs of today.
For blood stains the land
Greed corrupts the mind
On the brink of oblivion you stand,
Yet this is where the world’s technology began.


United hearts and hands, together let us stand
Uproot the greed and tear it to bits with bare hands
Together as one, let us wash the land
And rediscover that which once made us proud
It is time to wake you sleeping giant
Stand tall and become a shining giant