seeds of sankara

Once barren plains green with harvest
Seeds of Sankara
Spreading like a swarm of bees
Red berets sprouting across the continent
Growing like the sands of the Namib
Parliament stimulated in Cape Town
Parliament burnt down in Ouagadougou
Neo-colonialism going up in flames
Sankara a ghost
An apparition the heartland
Striking back on Halloween
Once barren minds beginning to understand
Once fearful hearts standing up without fear
Once barren plains lush with vegetation
Irrigating my little pasture
Walking alongside a phantom without fear
Minding my business
Africa is my business
My concern
Africa rising one fist at a time

 

Copyright © knox mahlaba 2014
Author – Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit

 

africa

A continent caught unawares
Pillaged for her wares
Sedated by foreign charms
Designer diseases spreading fear
Suffering from sleeping sickness
Africa stoned
Her children hooked on drugs
Could call it a co-incidence
A conspiracy more appropriate
Her human face defaced like the Sphinx
A parasite in her midst
The shrouded figure
Stays in a beautiful house
The shrouded figure
Forever lurking in the shadows
Scheming in the dark
Sowing division
Suffocating fertile soil
Bringing only death wherever he sets foot
A bloodsucker
Africa suffering from sleeping sickness
Blaming the tsetse fly
The shrouded figure
A hyena
A snake
Foreign aid a disease

 

Copyright © knox mahlaba 2014
Author – Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit

 

Inspired by Daniel Chester French: Continents: Africa.

Gateway to images of Daniel Chester French’s sculpture, “Africa,” found at the Old U. S. Custom House, New York City, New York.

africa for africans

All of Africa
Every single grain
Each and every soul
Fatigued by your antics

Tired of playing games
Slavery, colonialism, apartheid
Neo-colonialism

Tired of your costume parties
Dressed in a cloak and dagger
#bringbackthegirls
Men in black
Mercenaries seeking executive outcomes

Tired of your helping hand
Plagued by foreign backed coup d’etats
Frightened by Ebola
Ravaged by Aids
Sankara was right
Foreign Aid kills`

Tired of your war games
Biochemical warfare
Insurgents made for television
Turning this vast continent into an exercise training ground

All of Africa
Each and every grain
Belongs to the people
Africa for Africans

Leaving your fingerprints everywhere
The stench of dead bodies everywhere you go
Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya

Forever manipulating behind the scenes
Mbeki was the first to go
Followed by the Renaissance

Ghaddafi killed for his audacity
Afro currency
All Africa Central Bank

Kufuor and Zenawi eliminated
Gbagbo and Morsi sidelined
All replaced with puppets
Libya burning

Oh Brutus
Who killed Sankara

Mugabe a stalwart
Protecting the Zimbabwe Ruins
Defending our birth right
The land is our heritage

All of Africa
Every lake, river, waterfall
Tired of your games

Though their foreign policy has a silencer on the end
We shall continue to raise our concerns
Speak up
Death only but a detour
Africa is our continent

Oh Judas
Who sold me down the river

Copyright © knox mahlaba 2014

Author –  Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit

I am a Khafre

I’ve been called by many a name
Childhood nicknames
Family pet names
Apparently what I call myself immaterial
Others choosing to christen me as they choose

Forced to carry a foreign name
A name alien to my culture
Bear the load of an unwanted name
Given many such names
Some do not appear in any documentation
Aliases used behind my back
Boy, Nigger, Thug

Inspired by The Champ
Like Kunta Kente
Forsaking his slave name
Opting for a chosen identity
Embracing his heritage
Ali The Great
King of the Rumble in the Jungle

Chanting Ali, Ali, Ali
Turning my back on Confirmation
My apologies to The Pope
The Vatican can do without another convert
I don’t want another unwanted name

Aiding and abetting Kwame Ture
Killing Stokely Carmichael
Lynching Cassius Clay
Burying Dona Richards
Forsaking all my unwanted names

Deemed a kaffir,
AKA kafir
Forgive me
For raising such a thorny subject

It’s been piercing my heart for years
My people insulted, denigrated
Being black ‘n beautiful
Their only crime
Subtle connotations
Houseboy, Sambo, Natives,
Harsh expletives, obscenities, cusswords
Negro, Kaffer
Unknowingly anointing me

Biko said I was black
Sobukwe called me an African
Mbeki broke it down for me
Rasta calls me King…

An excerpt from “I Am A Khafre’ a poem found in the anthology Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit. This poem was inspired by the Richard Sherman ‘thug’ incident.

© Copyright 2014 knox mahlaba

Author of Back From The Dead: The Rising of an African Spirit