Rashid Pelpuo writes

TORN FREEDOM

Scores of years ago
Fishing from the same stream
We hooked on to
Hopes of liberation
Reversing the tides
Of our burdens

Coming from the shadows
We broke the bondage
Pinned to our souls
In rightful protest
Limbs in agitation
Being dismembered
And left behind.

And we recount these
Horrid times;
Willing bondsmen
Same arenas
Of dissatisfaction;
Our innocence
Raped and desecrated
The veil of freedom
Now torn off,
Displaced souls; worn out bodies;
Ghost faces of yesterday’s freed men
Roaming the land In tatters
Telling tales of horror
Of walking bones of people
Eaten up by wars and hate

1991: In the 1980s and 90s, Africa was plagued by civil wars and extreme poverty. Thousands left the continent to do menial jobs in Europe and America.

 

 The So Called Veil of Freedom -- Tiara Herpriyonggo