Ethiopia Unbound Poem by Kojo Owusu

Ethiopia unbound – revived?
Thrashing footfalls
Of outrageous mob
Skull of statue crashed
Radical blood flowing
In dark conscience
The roar of thunder god
The wild delirium
On wilted lips
Removed at last
Hateful
Spiteful
Despicable
Silhouette
Of the idealist detrimental
Chasing a policy
Of the impossible
What is the meaning
Of such a heinous journey
Such a suppressive
And oppressive steps
The disadvantaged
The downtrodden
The frustrated
Tender
Fragile
But the condition
The excruciating pain
The hardship
Was unbearable.

Then his blood
Cried out loudly
From the shadowy grave

I went into the wilderness
The burning terrain
The breast
Of goddess of night
I bowed in obeisance
She was mourning
Wailing
Groaning
About the disunity
The pillage
Portrayal
Of her children
As savages
Brutes
Backward
Uncivilized

And she gave me
A treasure
Carved on tablets
Revolutionary path
Neocolonialism:
The last stage
Of imperialism
Africa must unite

But I returned with fire
To see you jubilant
Overjoyed
Trampling
On my soul

Now I wander
In darkness
Uncertain
Lonely
Mad with grief
But in the darkness
I can see
Collective consciousness
Arising
Some of my dreams
Manifesting

Don’t point to my
Statue now standing
Proudly on my beloved
Country’s shore for children
To gape at me
Let them know
What sustains me
What makes me
Never to die
The inevitable truth
That I spoke to
Make me a controversial
Figure

I was sent on a mission
By goddess
Of night
By mother earth
The charms
Of mother earth
Let it prevail
Let them know