The man did nothing wrong yet,
he was gunned down
for going to shop in Nairobi.
He had no connection with
any trouble the murderers were fighting,
yet he has picked out of the crowd to be killed.
Xarakada Mujaahidiinta Alshabaab,
"Mujahideen Youth Movement" or "Movement of Striving Youth")
denied my little girls of an Uncle they adore.
Fo Kofi,
I am still asking why
because the ways of this life
have become darkened
by murderers like the The Boys of Somalia.
This earth, my brother,
is no longer the one
you and I used to know.
Esinam is asking questions
and will never get answers.
Elikem is weeping and you are
no longer around to wipe those tears
with all the love you have shown.
Francis Kokutse is a Ghanaian poet.
This poem is part of our series of poems in memory of Kofi Awoonor. You can learn more about Awoonor and the series here. If you have a poem in memory of Kofi Awoonor, please send it to us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail(dot)com.
Well done Francis
ReplyDeleteHe's gone
ReplyDeleteYears after he was born
To spell dawn
Amidst our hearts apart torn
At the rise of the sun
He fell to the screams of the gun
To make is soul run
From the shores of the living
Let sing the horn
A song of its tongue
Let it sing for that long
As his fled soul sails across the sun to beyond this wilderness