THE AFRICAN MIND

Sons of Africa,
Daughters of this black land,
Why have you left the greatest weapon unused?
Why have you trivialised this instrument of change?
Dodge the snares that caught your fathers
And the traps of silence that fought your mothers.

With this weapon men have transformed lives
How have you relied on the bread from afar!
And suckled upon borrowed nipples for milk...
How have you in the pool of selfishness taken dives
When with this weapon men have reached up to the stars.
And treaded the paths of wool, Cotten, and silk...
Awake, oh ye children of this dying woman, Africa!
Challenge the ways of your fathers,
Change the ways weak as feathers,
For this weapon laid in their bosoms
And in their possession was this instrument...

But blackness as of coal
Casted a shadow over each soul.
And dampness as of the eastern dew
Blanketed their spirits, not a few...
Soured thoughts of selfishness filled their minds
The rottenness of wickedness saturated their lands...
The toxicity of their thoughtlessness brought chains
And the comfortability of their smallness brought canes!

How shall this evil of everlasting be banished
The soul of weary young Africans are famished.
Searching for change but know not where to look,
They of ages past thought you that strength is of the muscle
They that rule you have kept from you the strength of the mind.
Refurbish your minds to conquer the evils of your fathers,
Put your dusty brains to work,
Let the cogs roll to production.
And the clogs be Casted out by forward thoughts.

Like your brother Jacob, let your mind-power rise,
Let not the weapons of the field blind you
Let not your sweat beguile you
For with time, the sporting of hunting shall make of you a fool.
Consider the hat of deep thinking,
And lay aside the armour of struggle,
Shake off the binding shackles
Sit to think of your thoughts
And from within the best sought...

Richard Eghowan Ebhota©