April 10-11 stands as a somber chapter in the history of The Gambia. These two poems were composed as a means of bearing the grief, and as a tribute in remembrance of the victims (the departed and the scarred).
Cry Not Mama - a poem
Cry not, Mama,
Trying to make sense
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Out of the senseless,
Turning around in circles,
Sleepless and restless,
Trying to feel your pain.
Mothers and fathers of the martyrs,
Young lives taken away,
From earth to earth,
Living in our hearts
Forever, forever, and forever.
Mothers, we mourn by your side.
You carried that baby for eight months,
The ninth month demanding your breath.
The joy you felt after the birth pains,
Hoping and dreaming
That your baby would one day be someone.
You gave that baby solid food and love,
Toiling under the sun.
Nothing you would not do
To give that child a future.
Fathers, we mourn by your side.
You worked this earth with bare feet,
You denied yourself pleasures
To give that child a future.
How anxious you were,
Waiting to hear from the maternity ward,
Or was it from the home,
News about your baby.
You both took that child to school
With high expectations:
To acquire knowledge
For a better future.
Then came the gunman,
The neighbor's child he was,
No stranger to you.
He called you mother and father,
Yet he turned that gun on your children
And took them away from you
Forever, forever, and forever.
But cry not Mama,
That child is in eternal peace.
How can I tell you,
How can I make you understand,
That your pain is not in vain,
That your pain is mine?
Some give their lives for others
In their own way,
And live forever.
Look at me Mama,
I am your child.
For what your child died for
Will live in me forever.
So they all live in me Mama
All those courageous children.
And I am not alone Mama;
We are all your children.
As you dry your tears,
Gripped by grief,
Your legs feeling numb and heavy,
Trying to make sense out of the senseless,
Seek consolation in us,
We who will carry your child in us,
Until we take our last breath.
No, they did not die in vain!
For what they died for
Cannot be killed Mama.
Justice must come,
Freedom must come,
A "New Gambia" will be born.
It is only a matter of time.
By Alpha Robinson
© 2000 Alpha Robinson
...............................................
METIT (The Pain)
Tundee béle lumu sorri sorri,
Helako gënna sorri.
Gëj lumu räy räy,
Metit munako oppa.
Bàkken nimu neexey,
Nga jël ko ci ngalaw.
Yaangi melni ku jogey ci bennen jamano,
Hanaa xamuloo neh ci tey leñ nekka.
Te xalel mooy magi ëllëk,
Te bàkken bu mos dundaa,
Dina mos deh.
Bon nak, adina potindaa la.
Ku naan jox sa moroom,
Ken du jur bopaam,
Te ken du suul bopaam.
Hanaa xamuloo neh,
Nit lumu tuuti tuuti,
Mo gënna magga taahi-kow.
Tas tabax amoon nafi,
Waaye deh deki musu fee am.
Yaangi fenafen be yabi,
Melni xobbi warga bu saali.
Fu ngalaw foof nga jublu,
Xoolal mala.
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Ngai yoloos yoloosi,
Melni bukki burus.
Nakka nga ma xolée ëllëk?
Tekat Tan tanéenala,
Ngir moom Tan, lu dee la lekka.
Waaye yaw yangma lekka,
Te dehanguma.
Hanaa xamuloo neh fi "befaw" amatufi,
Xew-xewi rek moofi sah.
Bon ndook bul melni puruh,
Ñam binga ne feef,
Ci suma loxo la jaar.
Nganaan ñun nga bugga selmal,
Te xamuloo neh fi jantabi feñ na fi.
Waaye bu bor seteh,
Ku rus ñaw.
Yalna sa adina bañaa seda.
Benga gis lorangeh ginga warral,
Tek ko xaleh yu hamul dara,
Balaa la suuf di sedey ëllëk.
Yalna ñu ëllëk tannal jamano,
Ni xaleh bi di tanney malo mi.
Seppi tilim bici suñ bir,
Ngir suñ ëllëk naak.
Alpha Robinson
© 2000 Alpha Robinson
