Africa's Shores & Mecca of Freed Slaves

KWENU! Our culture, our future

Africa’s Shores

Roland Bankole Marke

Florida, USA

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Slave ships docked Africa’s shores as trade ships

Beyond the coastline, strange, crafty sons invade.

Greedy-hearts of stone, goaded frolic racket race

Dead to folks’ emotions, of deficient moral grace

“Are they real humans,” misery choked me to ask?

Poor, guiltless, teary-eyes, sobbing hearts defused

Slaves in chains, on bruised as supplicating knees

Weak-trembling arms, lifting their eyes to Heaven:

To die of tsunami, pestilence chronic famine, would

Be merciful, than to witness my beloved folks perish.

My sable heritage quivered glued onto enraged shame

To nurse those injured, volcanos rewarded the brave.

Lord, stretch thy justice-hand, ever almighty to save:

To cleanse us daily, of demons like eternal darkness.

Mecca of Freed Slaves

Mecca of freed slaves, once beauty’s realm

Citadel of learning to blaze freedom’s rays

Mother Sierra Leone’s amiable - charisma

Historic landmark, epitome of my ancestry

Friendship was genuine as mutual oneness

Christian like Muslim, a fused community

Compatriots shared Christmas or Ramadan

Reaching for the sky once consensus aspire

But rebels demonized my cherished legacy

Destroyed homes this generation inherited

Bleeding caricature with appalling menace

Freetown, the brave warrior will rise again:

Lion-hearted might is stoic tenet of a victor.

Roland Bankole Marke is a widely published Sierra Leonean writer, who writes from Florida.

Roland has 3 books under his belt in addition to numerous articles, poetry and fiction published in numerous outlets.