WordCity Monthly – October 2020, Issue #2, poetry by Jerusha Kananu Marte

Jerusha Kananu Marete, Poetry

SALAAM MY MOTHERLAND AFRICA

Last night I dreamed of arm stretched Africa

Last night I dreamed of borderless Africa

Last night I dreamed of brothers and sisters living in harmony

I dreamed of thriving vitenge industries in Africa

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

 

Last night in Kenya I saw spears and arrows turned into farming hoes

Last night cotton, coffee and tea industries steamed

I saw genuine smiles with sparkling white teeth in Sudan

I saw brothers in Nigeria disarming and disowning Boko Haram

I saw a serene Somalia soldiering on building Al-Shabaab ruins

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

 

Last night, Africa in unison echoed political stability

Last night, Africa in unison echoed social cohesion

Last night, South Africa was umbrella for all blacks in the rain

Ethiopia in black mourned Hachalu Hundessa raising a white dove

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

Last night black trader bought jewellery from Djibouti

Last night black trader bought oils and perfumes from Tunisia

Last night black trader sold exquisite African style fabric from Dakar

Last night black trader sold beautiful baskets from Zimbabwe

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

Last night African leaders kissed Africa, we loaned west

Last night Africa imported and exported within

Last night African industries revived, African sweat streamed

Last night corruption was hanged we sang freedom songs

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

Last night P.L.O Lumumba reminding us of modern slavery

We condemned vestiges of slavery in Sudan and Libya

He paved path for Pan-Africanism and asked pertinent questions

Last night we asked why African conflicts are manufactured outside Africa

Last night I saw one Africa, one heritage loving our language and culture

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

Today rise Africa, from the grave W.E.B Dubois chant RISE

Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore chant RISE

Haile Selassie, Mwalimu Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda chant RISE

Aime Cesaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Nelson Mandela chant RISE

Bob Marley and Miriam Makeba melodies echo Africa unite

Salaam, Salaam my mother land Africa, Salaam

I CRAVED PEACE

I whispered, hoping it will crawl to the bush

Auch! An arrow fell on its side, my heart bled!

Getting from the bush was courting death

The innocent child played with the arrow

I still whispered, but clothed in God’s suit ,it played on

Lying next to it were bodies chopped

Nearby bodies wrapped in cloth were tied to long poles

Screams of women being raped echoed in the desert_

My heart was lame!

Why fight for soil they soaked with blood?

Another arrow missed the child’s head by a whisker

I threw my camera, crawled towards the baby

Three years gone by, I watch him draw

He draws dead bodies, guns and arrows

He doesn’t talk or smile.

I lost my arms but I am teaching this poor soul

Teaching him to draw a dove

How would peace look in his silent troubled world?

Return to WordCity Monthly’s October 2020 issue…

Jerusha Kananu Marete, a Kenyan writer, is the author of power-packed-package anthology of poems titled Echoes of Military Souls. 

She has her heart in narrative poems

https://www.the–star.co.ke/sasa/books/2020–06–07–poetry–book–puts–war–philosophy–in–focus/ 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49779503–echoes–of–military–souls

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085DTG4X3/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_i_rSS8EbJ5J7H55

Jerusha is a graduate from University Of Nairobi (English & Literature) and currently a MA student at Kenyatta University. She’s a teacher, a performing artist & a film and theatre enthusiast. She is also a loving mother to Emmanuel. Her poems have been published in anthologies and journals, including Libero America Journal, Reconnoitre: Official Magazine of the Kenya Military Academy 2019, Best “NEW “African Poets 2019 Anthology, African Writers Caravan Journal and Millennial Voices; East African Poetry.