Echoing from the Maghreb North
Down the icy mountains of Bantuland
To the wet-lands of the Niger delta
From the poached plains of Masai-land
To the crimsoned diamonds of Sierra Leone
Africa weeps.
For her Peoples,
Sold on the solemn oaths of demagogues
Now captive to the Mineral greed of bandit leaders.
From the nightmare of thieving mandarins
To her indentured miners
Shelled into exodus to nowhere
Africa weeps.
For her transcended children
Whose manhood rites
A testimony of severed limbs;
For her toiling women
Mendicants amid plenty, and
Ravaged youth, staring an abyss
For a future,
Africa weeps.
When will Africa smile?
When will the deafening din of mortars
The frenzied roars of the Alpha
Be replaced by the cherubic smiles of the sated?
Of the fed?
Of the contented?
When will Africa taste
Of the honey on the Moon?
When will Africa ever smile?