the african dream

A very long time ago,
On the shores closest to the centre of the earth,
Chunks of gold littered the coast line;
Of the land, where the people smiled, and laughed.

It’s been a while, O, how fleeting time is.
A people so colourful, they made the sun smile;
And the moon smirked with such pride,
That, the stars wish they were humans.

O, the people, they had contentment:
Each was for all, and all belonged to everyone.
Paradise, their land was;
Their culture made tranquillity look sadistic.

Where slaves, were family.
And royalty, flowed in every vein;
Every family, a part of the governance.
Tis where democracy learned its tenets.

Home their land was,
And oneness, their breath;
That unity became unemployed.
And greed, took a vow of chastity and celibacy.

Happiness learned from the people,
For they had learned to live.
The will of Tweduapon, they manifested in their lives,
And love blossomed with their every touch.

Until that fateful morning;
When the strong south eastern winds,
Steered the ships of the men from afar,
Who wanted the gold that littered the shores.

Gifts, they showered on those strangers,
Have the best that our land offers, they pleaded.
For their godlike nature, made them carefree
And sharing was their merry.

As they made merry, evil watched with anger.
And vowed never to rest, until it destroyed them.
In the hearts of the strangers,
It sowed its seeds, and nurtured until it grew.

Lies the strangers peddled,
Your way of life makes you sick and poor.
O, how stupid we have been,
Thus began a new education – indoctrination.

As they learned from the strangers,
Evil permeated their thoughts.
And greed filled their hearts,
Like cancer, it spread through their land.

Wail, wail, cried the mothers;
For their eyes were opened,
And they knew greed from moderation.
O, what new language they learned.

Yours, mine, ours, theirs, we and they;
Happiness aged and greed broke its vow,
And fear sprouted, with terror as its leaves,
Like the sun flower, A new dawn began.

Our home have become homes and houses,
The aged we chide, for the advice they give.
And our children, we left them to their own fate.
Seize, amass, deceive – a new culture we adopted.

O time, one moment it is here, and then it is gone.
Why did we let go? It is too late they sang,
And they forgot “Sankofa”.
Because, they had become emotional.

Where hast thou gone, Oh Rationality?
Come, come for my people have lost their senses,
And they have stopped dreaming,
A lost cause, our lives have become.

We have replaced organic with artificial,
Modernity and development we call it.
And poorer have we become,
Because we no longer care, for our young and old.

Each one for him or herself; and God for me only,
That is the new religion.
And Onyankopon wept with pity,
What grave have you dug for your selves?

I gave them everything, He thought.
Why have we replaced gold with paper?
Modernity it is, my Lord they answered,
And we will survive it.

What happened to dreams?
They are distant thoughts and impossibilities,
We will savour the present,
And leave tomorrow to fend for itself.

Dreamers, are visionaries and they are not welcome.
They set targets impossible to achieve,
Why should we toil so hard?
When we will be gone tomorrow.

We want to be like the stranger;
But we do not want to put in their efforts,
It makes our back break,
Their ways are harder, but it is too late.

Sankofa, where art thou?
Teach us the ways of old,
When we used to care for the earth.
Our home is broken, and our land in a peril.

Dream, my children dream;
Dream and visualise, the future is in your dreams,
And your children will be proud of you,
And your fathers will bless you.

Your brother’s keeper you should become;
The earth you cultivate, are the remains of your ancestors,
And they give you food to eat.
Do the same, for the next person, male or female.

Your strength lies in my courage,
Your faith in my belief,
And your peace, in my harmony,
The future is our dreams put together.

Come Africa, let us dream;
About a future so bright, the sun can retire,
And our children, they will preserve our memories.
Wake up you sleepy creature, and lay the world at your feet.

A new paradise our dreams will create,
Assume your rightful duty, as co-creators with Oboadea.
And today can be made better, tomorrow best.
A new dream, the newest dream, the African dream.