A Poem dedicated to Prof. Asrat Woldeyes
By Zenebe G. Tamirat
In the Horn of Africa where the mountains seem to meet the sky;
Along the shore of the sea that Mosses rolled on: and where the birds fly:
And down there where the obelisks are;
Where the river they call Awash crosses the land of the Afar; And,
Where the waters of the Nile are worshipped by Egyptians
Where the waterfall, they call, “Tis-Abay;”
Dreadfully Roars from its cliff to reach its bed
Where it is no more aggressive but just a friend: And then,
Boiled by the mystery sun that changes it into vapor,
Rises again so high;
There rests Abyssinia;
The country known as, Ethiopia!
The country that the Bible says, “Ethiopia stretches
its hands, unto God:” And go forward in independence
For thousands and thousands of years,
And there in the midst, not only I,
But every walk of life before me,
Including mother of all mankind, Lucy,
Millions and millions of years ago were born in mystery.
And ever since, except those who left the land, everyone has been free.
Where I was born, everything used to be in a band;
The trees in the jungle stand,
So, thick side by side;
Allowing no passer-by to pass amidst them,
Even the wind could not have passed over,
Had it not whistled the national anthem!
With the wind whistling, leave alone the people,
The lions roar the sound of love,
And the tigers and the hypos, and the elephant dance,
The timid and the wild live in peace & relax,
Like birds of the same feather:
They walk together, they fly together and they eat together;
And when challenged they fight together!
Amazing beings! Amazing land!
So, fascinating, and so thrilling! So, wide and broad,
A blessed gift of God!
So, now I am aware of the mystery of my independence!
I see! I see! It was the might of this oneness!
The filament of Ethiopian-ness
That threaded us together to enjoy,
The bond that clamped us long, long years ago until I was a little boy!
But later, revolted to forgo and go blind:
To say, “I am Eritrean, I am an Amhara, I am an Oromo, an Afar,
A Somali, a Guragie, a Benshangule: and lost deep in the wood.
Oh! My God aren’t we running wild?
Oh! My God! We have lost those days of Unity,
Brotherhood, fraternity, and sorority!
Can we not make it back once again to enjoy as Ethiopians?
Breaking the sufferance of ethnic-based miserable fragments?
And becoming one, once and only once?
· (Dedicated to Professor Asrat Woldeyes, on the celebration of his 10th year of Memorial Day, May 2009. Professor Asrat is a Martyr who lost his life fighting for the unity of Ethiopia)
· The poet, Zenebe G. Tamirat is available @ ztamira@yahoo.com
