New Era Poem by Chris Jibero

Blaze it from the peak of the Cameroon Mountain
That the Age of despots who masquerade as saviours
And milk their countries dry is gone

Publish it on the plains and fields of Zimbabwe
That the era of sit-tight, old school, maximum rulers
In garbs of statesmen is over

Declare it on the hot sandy paths of Burkina Faso
That the time of self-serving traitors
Clinging unto power for unending decades is deceased
And its remains consigned into unmarked mass grave
For felons and betrayers

Broadcast it in the streets of Uganda
That the period of dictatorship masked
With sham electoral process is over

Spread the good news from every belfry, minaret
And rooftops all over the world
That the era of all-knowing and demi-god monarchs
Handing over leadership batons from one generation
Of theirs to the next
Both wise and foolish is over

And need we announce to Gaddafi and men of his ilk
That their glory departed when the thin wool
With which they covered the eyes of gullible citizens
Was washed away by information and communication
The earthquake and tsunami
That destroyed the obnoxious old order
And ushered in a golden new era
That has fashioned the entire world
Into one glorious global family.


(2011)