For Anita Roddick, a poem by Ken Saro-Wiwa

For Anita Roddick

Had I a voice

I would sing your song

Had I a tongue

I would speak your praise

Had I the time

I would live for you

But here, gagged and bound

To the ioor and injustice

And waiting for death

I can only wonder

How you have breathed life

Into the thought that we give

Meaning to being

Only when we share and care.

Ken Saro-Wiwa 

Ken Saro-Wiwa (full name: Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa) was a Nigerian writer, television producer and activist, born in October 10th 1941 in Bori near Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa spoke against the country's military regime and Royal Dutch/Shell for the destruction of the environment of the Ogoni people, in his hometown of Rivers state. He was executed on November 10th 1995 in Port Harcourt after being tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly orchestrating the murder of Ogoni chiefs in a pro-government meeting. Subsequently, he was hanged by the military dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. This act of injustice aroused international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.

I lie Alone at Night, a poem by Ken Saro-Wiwa

I Lie Alone at Night 

I lie alone at night

And think all of one year’s gone

Since I held you in my arms

In the bed we know so well.

I lie alone at night

And see the callous bandits

Break into our hallowed bedroom

Cruelly knife our togetherness.

I lie alone at night

And think of you lying lonely

Dreaming of my return

To the home we love so well

I lie alone at night

And think of the thick boots

Which stalk the halls of tyranny

And crush us underfoot.

I lie alone at night

And wonder why you wait

And endure the gripping pain

Which is my lot to bear.

I lie alone at night

And think of the stranger moon

The stars beyond my gaze

Your beauty like moons and stars

I lie alone at night

And pray the day will come

To mend your broken heart

And steel my breaking soul.

I lie alone at night

And dream a great new dawn

Without boots and knives

Broken hearts, breaking souls

Empty dreams and lonely beds

Stranger moons and searing pain

When you and I and all of us

Can hold hands and sing our love

Into a night captured by peace.

Ken Saro-Wiwa 

Ken Saro-Wiwa (full name: Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa) was a Nigerian writer, television producer and activist, born in October 10th 1941 in Bori near Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa spoke against the country's military regime and Royal Dutch/Shell for the destruction of the environment of the Ogoni people, in his hometown of Rivers state. He was executed on November 10th 1995 in Port Harcourt after being tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly orchestrating the murder of Ogoni chiefs in a pro-government meeting. Subsequently, he was hanged by the military dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. This act of injustice aroused international outrage and led to Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for more than three years.

Wishes by Adelere Victor

Wishes

Many must have wished

To possess the ability of a bird

To fly and sail through oceans with wings

To overcome the cheat of time

And to champion the sky

Many must have wished

To become mighty and dreadful like elephant

To intimidate others with great power

And to have many people as servants

Many must have wished

To possess the fierceness of lion

To wield great powers

And to lord it over nations 

Many must have wished

To become beautiful and elegant like peacock

To display pulchritude with great pride

And to oppress others with elegance

Indeed, wishes give essence to life

A solid reason to continue living

Fuels that keep the mind going

And air that aids the existence of humanity

But it must remain unpolluted by wickedness

And it must be free from covetousness

It mustn't prove hazardous to others 

(c)  Adelere Victor

The Land of Unease by Niyi Osundare

The Land of Unease

The land never knows peace

Where a few have too much

And many none at all.

The yam of this world

Is enough for all mouths

Which pay daily homage

To the god of the throat

Enough for the aged

Awaiting day's dusk

And the young peeping 

At tomorrow 

From mother's back.

Niyi Osundare

Niyi Osundare was born in 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria. He is a prolific writer and highly valued literary critic. In December 2014, Osundare was awarded the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) for academic excellence.

The Leader and the Led, a poem by Niyi Osundare

THE LEADER AND THE LED

The Lion stakes his claim

To the leadership of the pack

But the Antelopes remember

The ferocious pounce of his paws

The hyena says the crown is made for him

But the Impalas shudder at his lethal appetite

The Giraffe craves a place in the front

But his eyes are too far from the ground

When the Zebra says it’s his right to lead

The pack points to the duplicity of his stripes

The Elephant trudges into the power tussle

But its colleagues dread his trampling feet

The warthog is too ugly

The rhino too riotous

And the pack thrashes around

Like a snake without a head

“Our need calls for a hybrid of habits”,

Proclaims the Forest Sage,

“A little bit of a Lion

A little bit of a Lamb

Tough like a tiger, compassionate like a doe

Transparent like a river, mysterious like a lake

A leader who knows how to follow

Followers mindful of their right to lead”

Niyi Osundare was born in 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria. He is a prolific writer and highly valued literary critic. In December 2014, Osundare was awarded the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) for academic excellence.

See the analysis of The Leader and the Led