In the
name of the Empire,
for its sustenance, its glory:
The
devastation of ancient Africa,
the near extermination of the
Herero,
the imminent cultural genocide
of the Pigmy, of the
San …
The herding of Her children across
the
Atlantic, their strong backs hunched
over vast fields of sweet
bamboo sticks,
sugar mills spinning wheels,
fields of puffs
of cloud,
their breaths tormented
by the fiery eyed amoral
sun …
“Strange fruit hanging from the poplar
tree”,
the palatial homes of the “gallant”
south,
the wealth of the nation itself …
The
murder of the dissenting god:
“I have a dream! I have a
dream!”
© 2023 Ségun Ògúntólá