Let poets sing - Otieno Amisi

Let Poets Sing

Let poets sing
and sing
Sing hymns to soothe
Africa's wounded pride
of Samora Machel,
of Patrice Lumumba,
of Torn Mboya
of Pio Gama Pinto

Hymns to Africa's undying tribes
Good tribes and bad tribes
Hymns for an aging bride
Battered, tortured, defiled,
crying ..

Let poets heap unmeant praises
on tyranny and corruption
For leaders, God's choicest sons,
are hard to come by
And His Excellent Excellency
is only one.
Oh, let poets sing and sing

Let poets sing and sing
Lulling lullabies that lull
and lure and let loose
That we may bow
before love’s mighty power.

Let poets sing and sing
Of dull dreary death,
dignified and humbling
ripping souls apart,
that man may examine
the meaning of mortality.

Let poets sing and sing
Of beauty, fecund,
beckoning, life giving
that we may learn
to love ourselves,
and others too.

Let poets sing and sing
Of hope, forward looking,
forgiving, a radiant ray
that we may find meaning
in the daily sojourn of the sun
Oh let poets sing and sing.

Let not poets sing of ideologies
And empty eulogies
for those who invented nothing
Let not poets rush us to modernity
Across progress lane is a log bridge
Lest we stumble, slip and fall
But oh, let poets sing and sing and sing

otienoamisi is a journalist and literary commentator based in Nairobi. www.otienoamisi.wordpress.com