When will the goat marry the sheep’s offspring?
When will the snake develop hind legs?
We shiver with shrieks from death chambers
He says they are laughs from children at play
Our agitations got to the soul
They decided they’ve all had their fill
We decided to take to arms
We ask the tyrant:
When will our chains be destroyed?
He says:
When there are fires in the land
Hot enough to melt their links
Let’s call in the blacksmith I say
Let’s forge with our minds
And deliver with our mouths
And defend with our hands
Then we will be free from the tyrant
But first our hands had to be burnt
Our feet had to get swollen
Our teeth have to ache us.
If our own eyes
Had not seen in broad daylight
The things the tyrant has
Here disclaimed on oath
We would believe we dreamt it all.
Indeed, even now
Under the heat of his blaring gaze
The benign indulgence of his smile
We are not so sure-
No. we are
He says we are had
All gone out of our mind
If madness breeds lucidity
God, make us mad-
Make us even madder
For in the hollow of our darkness
We have felt
The wailing of a strained heart
The turbulence of a troubled soul
A spirit refusing to be drowned
Even before conception.
A continental pride, a black nation
A good future borne through struggle
A regional light, an emulation
A hunter’s trigger, the farmer’s gourd
Today’s hope, tomorrow’s dreams
We’re a music band
Dancing to different tunes
A twined Gunther’s chain
Waiting for freedom
Thriving in the trade of deceit
A nation driven by passion
Despite selfishness we’re moving forward
Our unborn child is secured
Our legacy will be passed on
Our desires would be fulfilled
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
The waves beside them danced-but
They
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee
Then our hearts with pleasure fills
There, in our black-blue vault we sail along
Followed by multitude of stars
In the clear moon
And glory of the heavens
Shouting the words of sweetness
Chanting the song of victory
Blowing the trumpet of royalty
For we are a glory
Waiting to reveal its crown.