Seeing a swarm of flies
Seeping the sap of
A hand-deprived
Leaper's fresh wound
A good Samaritan
Disarrayed them with
A hand clap “Twa!” sound
Getting as close as he could
In vain expecting
“A thank you!” gratitude.

“You shouldn't have done that
When the former ones,
Who had their fills, depart
The famished ones come forth
For their part
To siphon my blood
To their hearts delight!”

The upstart incumbent
Closed a curtain
On at the-end-of- the-tunnel
-alluring light
Let alone warrant
The much-touted
Days bright—Democracy
Deepening
Across the board wealth sharing.

Revolutionary democrats
Who boast “Brave
In a guerilla fight
We have sent
Tyrants to a grave!”
Serving the people
Opted to forget
So as
From government's coffer
To line up their own pocket.
Tax-comafledged exploitation
Compounded by
Government-sponsored corruption
What is more intimidation
From one's land
Or abode alienation
Research aiming
At ethnic cleansing
Bureaucratic logjams
And maladministration
Creating a non stop
Hassle and tension
From fever-pitch
Brewing up
Political tension
To divert attention
Are the tactic
They use
To sustain
Their tenure
And advance
Bad governance.///
African politics © 23 hours ago, Alem Hailu Gabre Kristos   sad poems • society poems
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Peter the Ce

On Ethiopian Good Friday
A rainbow on Ethiopia's sky
Its flag hovered high
Why?
Doubt have not I
As told to Noah
It is God's sign of mercy
"Gramercy! "
We owe the Omnipresent
Gramercy.

Come what may
(Corona or a lockdown)
Round the clock
God the Almighty
Is Ethiopia's prayer
And its orthodox
Faithful's talk.  (plasm 68, 31)

Press ahead
We need
Our talk to walk
Praising and praying
In every abode
True
"Ethiopia raises its hands
To God! "
////

Blue Nile echo from shore to shore,
"Poverty in Ethiopia is no more!"

Above all,
From a precipice
To a valley when you majestically fall,
Thunderous over
The damp dell, mountain gorge when you roll,
As usual
With green, yellow and red
Rainbow arched,
Tell Ethiopia loud-
"You children thee very much adore,
A lip service they now abhor!
‘Blue Nile has no lodging,
Yet it loafs a log hauling.' "

Blue Nile, about your deeds to talk
Breathtaking, you served well
The industry without smoke,
But now you have an extra work!
Far
   And
       Wide
Ethiopia will be electrified,
With Blue Nile,
               Gebe,
                    Tekeze... at hand!
Every nook and cranny will get light,
When efforts Ethiopians unite!

The future will be bright,
When a tamed Blue Nile ceases
Unchecked to roar past
Without a respite.

No energy source runs waste
Nor any Plant will suffer a blackout!

Lo and behold Blue Nile will be subdued
For riparian countries' good!

To contribute a brick,
Ethiopians twice you shouldn't think.
Farmers have mounted on a peaceful battle,
To cover the catchment with a green mantle,
To make terrace
On each mountain
Take every pain.
To afforest the depleted f o r e s t!
Thus washing on its sway,
Blue Nile conspires no more
To carry alluvial soil away.

Here of course it is good to recall
The message of Emperor Twedrose.
"Dear guests you are
Amidst people hospitable
Welcome, welcome
Feel at home!
Roam throughout
Abyssinia you might,
On its grandeur your eyes
You can feast.
The vast array of
Mouthwatering dish,
The country parades
You could relish.

In case you wish
For an adventure,
Still Ethiopia
Is a mosaic of culture!

Of course
It will grab your attention,
Ethiopia's being
A cradle of mankind
And ancient civilization.

You will see
To its music titillating,
Comes close nothing!
Moreover fails not
To draw your attention,
The affection
Among people hailing from
Different ethnic groups and religion.
But you can't transport a speck of dust,
Alighted or pasted on your shoe by accident!
So to get an exit,
Shake off your shoe and wash your feet!"

Giving to every dust attention
It is possible to ward off
The problem of siltation.
Besides don't you think
The forests serve a carbon sink?

Blue Nile echo from shore to shore
"Poverty in Ethiopia is no more!"

As though Abyssinia,
Africa's water tower
Is a weakling with no power,
On every news hour,
Portraying Ethiopia
A development backwater,
Also scornfully on a dictionary
Painting its people thirsty and hungry
Have no grounds any!
From a rain fed agriculture
Head on
Making a paradigm shift,
Irrigation when Ethiopia further adopt,
The vicious cycle of drought,
Which poses a threat
To its development,
Will give way to a bumper harvest,
Once more rendering Ethiopia
A cornucopia.

Ethiopians be not cool,
Be not cool
Resources to pool!

Lo and behold Blue Nile will be subdued
For riparian countries' good!

Yet, yet hanging up together
Be high on the alert
Any aggressor to deter!
Many are
Who wear a frowning face,
When development
In Ethiopia picks pace!

Keep open your eyes,
Keep open your eyes
At all time, all space
Where infrastructures
Are put in place.

To the helm of development
Ethiopia will soon catapult,
When its children
In full harness their resources put.
So cognizant of this fact,
Ethiopians allow not
The grass to grow under your feet.
Don't wait
Behind the campaign
To throw your full weight!

For work, roll up your sleeve
Ready for ‘The Renaissance Dam'
Your sweat
B
L
O
O
D
And life to give.
March out for prosperity
In Ethiopia to thrive,
What we need have
Is a bond-cohesive
A

B-O-N-Decisive.
Go all out, go all out,
Us, lucky we have to count
For seizing such a ripe moment.

Blue Nile echo from shore
"Poverty in Ethiopia is no more!"

Come-on let us not beg to differ,
Of course we could concur,
For all of us will agree,
Our pet dream is to see,
Ethiopia industrialized
Completely transformed!

Laying the foundation,
Where on takes off
The future generation,
Is what begs for
Central attention.

Why, Why and Why,
With our hands
Tucked in our pockets,
You and I
Remain standers by?
Also why
Simply watch the clouds
Glide across the sky?
Must we indeed,
Sowing a discord seed
Allow our rivers run wild,
Turning a blind eye to our need.

Wiseacres, though
You may not be on the same page,
Between stakeholders
Don't drive a wedge,
The government proves out
Out to fulfil its pledge.
In life it is not hard
To get sceptics,
Dear leaders talk your walk
Walking your talk!
Prove sceptics wrong
Letting them witness
The actualization
Of the dam agog.

Tax payers, if you have
A tax arrear
See it finds its ways to
The government's coffer.

Taxes being
A development backbone
Must be mysterious to none.

Target also rent seekers
That drive spokes
In to development wheels!

Had I not relished
What I had long cherished
Had I not tasted
And grew out of
What success has in store
Going past  its door,
I would have
squandered my life
With a carcinogenic self pity
For failing to cross floor.

Though barely clad,
He was fully attired
With chocolates of mud,
Which even pasted
A leg-burrow
Of a small
Walking scarecrow,
What a sorrow!

A sore -eyed
And malnourished child
That developed
A leg bandy
'cause buckling from
A ***-belly
Subject to ailments every
Prominently Kwashiorkor
And scurvy
By twist of fate
Pushed out
To the street
To sleep he used
By every bus-stand,
An orphan boy, poor
Showered with
A heavy downpour!

A biting cold untold
With a face
Smile wrinkled
He weathered,
Despite an urge
For a morsel of bread.

A dog rabid,  moreover
He was chased
From every nook and corner!

Mixed with boys of his kind
From the street
For freedom with a bent,
One night
To the bone chilled
By a cold wind
On the morrow dead
He was found!

The sought for warmth
He acquired in his death!

Yet fellow citizens
Are busy to take note
To hundreds of his sort!

It is surprising indeed
No one gives a heed
To the challenge of God
"Have you visited
Your brother in need?"

How come
The heart-wrenching
And the  unexpected
Widow's grief
Turned-brief?

The lady in black
Soon defying
Funeral decorum
Put on pink clothes
Decency that lack
Simply to attack
A deceased
Cheating husband
Whose unfaithfulness
Kept in the dark
Soon after funeral
Became stark!

Aghast adultery
Triggers
He'll knows no fury.

Though it is good
To bring to the limelight
Women brilliant,
In different walks of life
Who fought their way
To inaccessible height,
We must not forget
Starving-and-
drudgery-saddled mothers
Who their children
To school send
With full stomach
Too deserve
A tap on the back!
This must be also
Included in our talk
Specially when March 8
We mark!

I met
A tall Somali girl
Hewed out of a chocolate
With a complexion
I never seen to date
Her milk & iron ball eyes
Having iris brown
With her snow white teeth
And skin
Make a super color blend
A strong message to send.

"I am sure
Such a mesmeric girl
You never beheld!"

With a C curve
She  likes to put her arms
On her perfume-bottom hips
Before the parting of
Full blown petal lips.

She swept me off my feet
On first attempt
Her to greet.

"Cute one
Do you know something
You are an angel minus a wing!"
She responded with
A loud laughter
That still in my head
Opts to ring.

GERD has started
To hold water
Though Egypt's
Phony politicians
Were making
Many a chatter
That doesn't
Hold water.

At long last Ethiopia
Is set free,
Shaking of spokes,
Its developmental take off
To decree.

To conflict-exporting
Egypt's divisive wedge
And conspiracy
Ethiopians no more
Give ear
Cherishing a prosperity
Journey dear.

In tackling
A mammoth project
Ethiopia on its feet
That stood
Demonstrated
With no need to aid
From the
Double-standard exercising
IMF & World Bank --
All along
Its ambitious way
Against that stood
To Egypt
Showing  favoritism
And brotherhood--
When closing ranks for
A just cause  stand tall
The shunned could.

In the fight for
Freedom Ethiopia  was
A beacon light to Africa
Whose rays
Did stretch to Jamaica.

Repeats itself history
GERD is reminiscent of,
Adwa's victory.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.


ሕልሞችህን ወድር

ሕልሞችህን ወድር
አሊያ ሕልሞች ከገቡ መቃብር፣
ሕይወትን ምን ለየው
ከእርገብ ለመብረር
ክንፏ እነዳለ ስብር!

ሕልሞቸህን ወድር
አሊያ ያም ይሔም ሕልም ከሔደ
ሕይወትን ምን ለየው ከምድረበዳ
በበረዶ ከተቖራመደ! ////

As we are
Famed for hypocrisy
Do allow us to
Lecture you
About democracy
Though we know
Prior to us
You have the practice
In the timeline, upstarts
Usurping the know-all
Permit us
About democracy  to
Goad you please!

The divide-and-rule
Machiavellian gesture
As an adventure
We admit
And still exercise it
Fomenting
Ethnic-based conflict.

We adore to fish
In troubled water
To sure meet
Own objective faster.
Just like a canopy feeder
With our wings
Eclipsing the water
Striking out light helps us
Unsuspecting fishes  
To pick better.

In a
System of governance
And religiosity
You took the lead
But our piece of advice
How to dine, how
To put on attires
You have to heed,
Forget not
Boiled-wheat aid
You may need.
Disgraced, it is better
For food your pride
You barter.

Don’t think
Humanitarian issues
Or aid
Is what  first comes
To our head.
The economically weak
Their mind we—
Hooligan hypocrites—
Don’t
Allow them to speak
Leave alone
Their own roadmap
To design and
God-bestowed
Wealth to tap.
Worshippers of devil
Head- to -toe
We are evil.

It is our duty
To exhume a
Terrorist party
That shows alacrity
To execute assigned task
The reason behind its back
Remiss to ask.
TPLF is our right arm
We don’t want
On it to happen
Any harm.

We don’t mind
For genocide
A hotbed TPLF members
Or dissenters may find.
Introducing
Modern colonization
Is our covert intention. ///

Oh my God
I can't forget
The way  you
Owned the road
In many a boy's heart
Leasing a foothold.

The way you  used
To sashay
Calls for an assay
Why?
To prove
You're composed of
Pure gold
To outsmart many
A girl 100 fold.

I bet
Your liquification
It is unmatched
To date.///

https://poetsuniteworldwide.org/2019/08/23/ouroboros-ouroboros-self-cannibalism-alem-hailu-g-kristos/

Why my dear
When laid I, my eyes
On you first ,
Heart mine
In my throat
An asylum sought?

Why my dear
When my ear
Fine-tuned got
To your voice
Dulcet
Out of me
I jumped out?

Why my dear
For instance
Your scent
Of a rose fragrance
I inhaled ,
Perched I remained
Than alive more dead!

Why my dear
Me when you first greet
My tongue
Oft adept
Twice as much
To reverberate
Panic gripped slept?

How then my dear
Fidgeting
I to you
Me endear?

A snake bites a fool twice
'It is this one that stung me once! '
To show when he makes advance.

Three decades back,
A communist,
As a fad atheist,
To my chagrin
You taught us
"God doesn't exist!"

To my surprise
After mass
I saw you yesterday
Kneeling down
Hands upward
Wholeheartedly when
You Pray.

Out of His mercy
And benevolence
No doubt
God will forgive you
At once,
For what matters
Is your repentance.

But  I can't help to ask
What will be the fate of
Of those credulous children
At their formative years
You sent off the track
Without a mental map
To return back?

Reading an anthology of
Classic poems
On quiet a night
With wings of
Enlightenment and delight
My soul took flight
To far-off lands bright
Rife with musical poems
Some brain racking,
While some savory but light.

When I saw celebrated poets
From my dream plane
I decided to alight
So that the messages
Encoded on their poems,
To me they further explain.
Cognizant that
Hearing things from
The horse’s mouth
Like Antarctica
Will not make things
As far south.

I saw Helen Steiner Rice
Reading whose works
Like  ‘Christmas Guest’
Is nice.
When she me behold
This to me she told
“Till your corporeal being’s
Turn come to be a sod
Never desist to
Put your hope in God,
Who foresees and shapes
That will unfold.
Always dwell
In the vineyard of
The Lord. ”
Drew close James Stephens
With Helen
You are right nod.
“Chap, if you look around
You will behold
On everything
The hallmark of
Creation stamped by God!
Also excellent, from
The ordinary extra,
Your will hear
Nature’s God praising
Orchestra! ”
Willian Henery Davis
Courteously came by
To say <<Hi!>>.
“Be content with
What you have
You will be happy
When that you learn to love.
See you not why
The example set
By the butterfly,
On a rough rock
That sleeps content
Without a blanket! ”

Soon I met
Enda St. Vincent Millay
Whose fame
Surfing the tide of time
To date that does resonate.
“As the saying goes
‘The world is lovely
And the loveliest is enough!’
To be happy
Try to nurture the culture
Of admiring nature.
Waste not time
Go to the mountain
The secret of happiness
To you it will explain.”

After seconds walk
William Ernest Henely
Approached me for a hard talk
“When beset by challenges
Never give in
That is a great sin!
As for me, whenever
I fall
Soon I get up as the
Captain of my soul.
Though in the darkness
God seems far,
For the downhearted
He is a lodestar.”
I saw Elenor Frajeon
By a roadside
With a book in her hand.
“Love to books
Is a launching pad
To a wonderland,
Where readers meet authors
Of different brand
Hence, a window to their
Soul they will stand.
Also read my poem
That draws attention
To mother-to-child affection
That defies description.”

I met anon
Austin Dobson
“A rose
To itself
A question
Opted to pose.
‘I wonder why
This hoary-headed
Gardner refuses to die?’
But soon
A wind blew up
Its sun-withered
Petals to the sky.
The analogy teach
On the timeline
Brief, beauty to a grind
Will screech.

Patted me on the back
My son,
Ben Johnson
“Like a Lele
Being short and brief
Could render life
Ease and relief! ”

Sat on a rock
Samuel  Taylor Coleridge
To me a secret he broke.
With bitter smile
Waving his
Pen as a tool,
“Those who think
A poet is a fool
They will realize
Who is rather the fool
If they think with
A head cool!”
I saw Walter De la Mare
Exactly the way towards
Old Susan he used to stare.
“Susan taken away by
A romantic fiction
Past midnight
Sat on chair
Engrossed in a monologue
‘Breeching
Culture rules
Is not fair! ’
After
One’s age
Did advance
Reading fiction
One stands
For reliving
The past
A chance.  ”

Soon, came William Blake
Me to the graveyard
To take
Pointing to
A headstone
“Now, my enemy,
Object of my anger,
Is dead.
Subject to a
Conscious pang
It is divested of a soft pillow
I go to bed!
You must not yourself find
An axe to grind
Otherwise, to a reason
You will become blind.”
For supper
Volunteered to be
My host
Robert Frost.
He stressed
“To settle
Punitive price
As lethal
As fire is ice!”
Came an invited guest
Edmund Spencer
To tell us
The mystery
That put
His phlegmatic dream object
And he, her
Ardent lover, asunder.
“When fire and ice
Are locked in a love’s dorm
Out of the norm,
One may not change
The other’s form! ”
Via the window,
I saw a graveyard
Past the meadow.
When my eye caught sight
Of Julia Caroline
I took steps
To sit by her side
The meaning of eternal love
To understand.

“A kiss on the lips
From a lover
Is a keepsake stamp
That transcends
An earthly map.”

There in the graveyard
I met Sara Teasdale
“Like a low hanging ripe fruit
In the gray time
When a lass
Is off guard
To ****** her
A chance a lad
May stand.
Also from affection
For conjugal felicity
Many a lass
Could give added attention.”
I posed
Why should you show bent
To profanity?
“My friend
A *** could not be taken naughty
For expressing man’s sexuality!
For the answer try to meet
                Anne Bradstreet.”

Before I asked
Her why she
Committed a suicide
She got clear
From my side.

Anne Bradstreet
I met
“It is tragic
To have at home
A child with
A down syndrome!

What lurks
In the subconscious
Of an author or a poet
Through his/her pen
S/he may seek an outlet
So to date,
Regretting
“Why did I
Write this a taboo-seen
Thing!”
Seems some author’s fate.


I saw Thomas Hood
Amidst his harvest
That fares good
He told me
“From a perfumed
And well attired lady
Who belongs
To the top brass,
It is by far better
To tie a knot
With a provincial lass,
In her hair
With a fresh flower
Plucked out of the grass
She shines bright
Bathed by sunlight!”

Out on the street again
I met Lithuanian Salomejia Neris
I became happy
As I never wanted her to miss.

I asked her
About the heard-renting fate
She, her father, her mother, siblings
Neighbors and her age mate
Underwent.
“During the  World War II
Children, who
Otherwise were
Considered
Unfit for themselves
To fend,
Were forced
The brutal ****
To defend!”
Soon I met
Richard Lovelace
And John Scott
Locked in an argument hot.
The former
“I want to head to the front
It is a source of pride
To fight on
Nation’s side.”
The latter
“Paying a price grand
I cannot understand!”

Edwin Arlington Robison came
To tell me the story
About Richard Cory
“Measure not
Your life by
The success of your object
Of admiration,
The one a role- model
You hold or held,
I am afraid
Off guard
He can lodge
A bullet in
His head.”


I saw William Butler Yeats
, an Irish poet
Who raised an issue hot.
“How an
Angel helped out
A tired priest
A snap who
Could not resist
While a laity
In his parish
Was Ceasing to exist.”
Robert Herrick approached
Me this to speak
“I am smote
By grief,
To see a Daffodil,
Like human beings ,is brief.”

Said Emily Dickinson
“It is when you ere to hit
A target heart felt
You’ll understand
The meaning of
Having something desired
Under your belt.”
At last
I saw
Edgar Allan Poe
To make this to me
He made haste.
Though a pauper
“From my soul mate
No earthly or heavenly power
Is capable to asunder me
Top date.
After reading this much
I realized why
Poets never die”//////

Scene I


Rodolfo Graizani is seen sat in his new office in Addis Ababa .
A messenger salutes and hands him over a telegraph  letter saying " it is from Benito Mussolini."
Graizani reads the message loud

Dude,
We have done
Things good!
Hurrah at long last,
Using banned
Poisonous gas,
Ancient Ethiopia
We have subdued.

For our damaged moral,
We nurse after
The battle of Adwa,
The aforementioned news
Will be a nourishing food.
Slavish obedience
To fascism
In Ethiopia
We shall advance
Be firm
In our iron grip stance.

Hurrah, Ethiopia
Will be Italian
Infuse that
We can
With the dictates
Of  the gun.

(Graiziani stands up and walks in the room with a jubilant mood while the messenger watches him wide-eyed.)

Yes our subjects,
Ethiopians, serfdom
We shall teach
Hence summoning
Addis’ residents
Tomorrow
I have to make
A grand speech.
And also
I will
Coax priests
Slavish obedience to us
To subtly preach.

When our subjects lose
Their identity
We shall
Enjoy liberty
To siphon their wealth
Or property,
Also as a tactic,
Among citizens,
We should promote disparity.


Messenger what can you say?
Tomorrow will be my day!

(Messenger putting both hands on his head)

Good God
But I’m afraid
You may not do that
Unless every nation-loving
Ethiopian
You behead.

Be it luring them with a gold
Or threatening them with a sword
Unflinchingly, religious leaders
Will prefer to be a sod.
They will call down
On you a curse
If you try
To desecrate
Their abode,(Pope Petros)
You see
Preachers and the laity
Have a genuine faith
In God.
Also to
Fight back
They are bold.

(Graiziani pointing his finger towards the messenger)

Get out
Me don’t try
To flout!

Rather, let me practice presentation
To grab the audience’s attention.

Tomorrow putting on my uniform,
Bedecked with medals,
This message
I will drive home
Also the video footage
I will send to
Musoloni in Rome!

 Scene II
(Grizani dances into a podium. A messenger asks congregants to stand up for a tumultuous applause)

On nationalistic bombast
We have set a ban
Like it or not
Ethiopia is Italian
By the virtue of the gun.

(Among the congregants stands up a hoary-headed man)

We are citizens
Born free
Yield shall not we
To your crazy decree
Haven’t you read
How Emperor Twedros II
Lodged a bullet
Into his head?
Not to surrender!
Why don’t you look
After he fought hard
Why his life into his hand
He took.

How do you try
To subjugate
A nation,
With freedom that surfed
The tide of time to date?

(Angry Graziani answers)

How do you fail to realize
In the meantime Italy
Will help you
To civilize?

(Two two young adults(Moges Asgedom/Abrham Deboche) threw bombs )

Swish blast
Swish blast

Graiziani realized
How the breath
That could be his last,
Drew close fast.

To Graiziani
After it became stark
He narrowly escaped
A bomb attack
And his speech of
Subjugation
In Ethiopia is
An empty talk,
Still on the floor
He ordered attack.

 Scen III
(In front of the Yekatit 12 Martyr’s monument a small kid asks his father how Ethiopians regained their independence after the massacre ordered by  Griziani, who  soon after surviving the bomb attack, gave instruction for a cold blood retaliation.

The father dressing the hair of his child and looking him said patriots that  ambushed at the valleys and mountains of Ethiopia vowed to fight out invaders. They succeeded in doing so after a five year occupation of Ethiopia)

Waging a Guerilla fight
Shortly we shall gain our right
"Aiming from a tree high
We have patriots
That hit fighters’ jets on a dark sky!"(Patriot Belaye Zeleke)

“ As hitting a nail on the head
We have fighters
That pierces through
A tight tread.”           (Patroit HaileMariam Mamo)

“In the nook and cranny
And every gorge
We will wage
Many heroic fight
Enemies from
Our soil to dislodge”(Geresu Dukie/Jagama Kelo/Abbebe W/Aregai/Omer Semeter/Balcha Abanefeso...)

“We have heroes smart
With an artillery missile
That pierces artillery apart!” (Patroit Bekle Weya)///

Though in dexterity my  physically challenged  carpenter father,
Than  the physically fit proves better,as a source to his anger,
With contemporaries a level ground  he enjoyed never!

From late childhood there was one thing that me used to bother,  why my so discriminated father
On his turn true to cultural dictates,ill treats my domestic chores saddled mother
And heeds not her say though by the sweat of their brow
As responsible parents they were happily bringing my sister and I together?

I still wonder why ,why ,why my sister who has IQ
On par with me if not better,to help out mother
Suffering a cold shoulder even by her mom was denied the  right to pursue education further
While I was given a chance to prove a man of letter(s)?

I remember, crossing many a pool, barefooted, I used to trek
A long distance to a nearby town's a  school,
Where for my  provincial and shabby clothes I was seen a fool
By the relatively rich  in showing courtesy far from cool.
Though stationery they didn't lack , sad,I had a hand tied behind my back.

Alas,up on joining campus where I yearned for the sagacious a chance
There too  in my class,I was looked down by students
Hailing from families of the top brass.

When I went abroad for a higher education enjoying fellowship and donation
Worse still, I met many, colour has coloured whose vision.
Ironically my dissertation was drawing attention
To why should the broad mass be standers by
And with ill-fate marked die
While the favoured ,racist and the corrupt few gobble over 3/4 of the pie? /

Lately,while I was
Scouring the internet
A shock I felt
Up on learning
A tragic news
A google-found friend
Of mine
On the western end of
My continent
But for a while
We experienced
A disconnect
To my grief
Had turned brief.

What a depriving blow
What a depriving blow
To poetry fans
That missed
Words of wisdom
From his mind that flow.
Life, love,
Hope and salvation packed
Musical words that praise God
In a style and manner untold.

No reader fails to wonder
In figurative speeches
He is a past master.

No doubt
As his time and energy
Were devoted to
Praising the Lord
In a paradise
A special place
He will hold.

He is survived by
His wife, two children
And his book
"The Revelation of Love"
That will babble
Generations' brook
By surprise
Traditional publishers
As it took .

I did notice
When he wrote pupils' poem
Savory, unerringly it used to
Hit home.

When I chose and asked him
To write a blurb for
"Ouroboros" my book
He did it in a manner
Supper fit for sales hook.

-->Envoy

A gifted poet has to be
In a hurry
Before a profound wisdom
And skill
Along with
His/her dead body
People burry.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is ******, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.


በጨለማ ውስጥ

ከጥግጥግ ከከበበኝ
ድቅድቅ ጨለማ
ለማይበገረው መንፈሴ
ለአምላክ ያለህ የምስጋና ዜማ
ነኝ የማሰማ፣
ሑኔታዎች ቢያሸርቡም
ተሰቅቄ አልጮህኩም፣
የፈለገውን እኩይ ጣጣ
ራስ ላይ የሚወጣ
ቢሆንም እጣ
ይዞ የሚመጣ
ብናድድም ግና አቀርቅሬ
ወይ ተመርሬ ኣላውቅም!
ከዚያ የንዴትና የእንባ
ባድማ ባሻገር
ይታየኛል የመከራ ጥላ
የወረረው መንደር!
አንድ ወቅት ለሌላ
ከነግሳንግሱ
ቢሆንም የሚለቅ ተራ፣
ዘመን ያገኘኛል
ከአይበገሬዎች ጎራ
ሆኜ መጻኢ እጣዬን የማልፈራ!
መሃንዲሰ ነኝ
እጣዬን የምቀይር ቀጥቅጬ፣
የነፍሴን መርከብ
መሪ ጨብጬ!
(ዊሊያም እርነሰት ሔንሊይ) //

With your sweet lips,
On which oft
I yearn to plant a kiss,
Slander me not please!

My lodestar
You must know
A  drop of gal
The wellspring of honey
Is capable to mar!

Though life is priceless
And invaluable,
To be frank,
The blood, one donates
To a blood bank,
An oasis in
Life-devoid desert
A delivering mother's
An accident victim's
A nation defending
Soldier's life,
Helps to regain back!
What a lofty task!
What a lofty task!

Donating the resilient blood
Does not affect
Our health's statuesque,so
Once in a while
Let us learn,to a nearby
Blood bank to go!

When sinks in the idea,
Of such a holy venture
Following suit
All will nurture the culture!

When smiles
From my teeth
You often scan,
Do not  conclusion jump
Posses my heart you can
The former is for all
But the latter
For one!

What a sin
What a grave sin
A fox in
A sheep’s skin
Echoing the mob’s
Democracy-peace-and –unity-
Packed wish
Enunciating bright days
They will soon relinquish,
He touched
In every credulous heart
A sensitive cord,
Cognizant, an all-out support
To him
They will accord.

True, he basked under
Taps on the back
To his expectation ten fold
And laudations untold.

Nothing toothsome he left
In the political rhetoric dish,
With colorful diplomacy
He adored
To garnish,
So he made many
Their speculation
To relinquish.

He also won the international
Community’s “go ahead!”
Abstaining from
Their customarily
“We are afraid!”
They declared
“He has no fault!”
Smirking behind his back
“Congra a Trojan horse
We have got
Who buys all what
We say
Without a grain of salt,”

To solve the paradox
The mob must unmask
And chase
The fox,
A jackal
In a green pasture
Is unorthodox.//

It will not change now
After so many years
Life has not broken it
With parting or tears
Death will not alter it
It will live on
In my all songs for you
When I am gone.


አይለወጥም

ዓመታት ቢነጉዱም
በዘመን ደለል አይዋጥም፣
በመለያየት፣ በእንባ
ሕይወት አላጋዘውም
ወደ አለመኖር አምባ!
አይበግረውም ሞት
ዘመን ይዘልቃል ይዞት!
በሁሉም መዝሙሮቼ
በማልፍ ላንተ ሠውቼ!

(ሳራ ቲሰዳል !)//

Just to win an argument
Oft the couples
Resort to a heated debate.

For a change
They never tried
To remedy
A rage-rocked marriage.

They have themselves to blame
For a solution begging problem.

Mom and dad
Me if  you adore
Kiss me not
Till COVID-19
Is no more!

It took me long
To bury
My much-cherished love
Adamant to let go
"My no other than you
Romance-packed song;
A song aiming at
Ramming home
A message strong
Inviolably  to you
I belong!"

This way to much
Water has passed
Under the bridge,
While in vain I labored
To give my love
A cutting edge.

At last, you said
"Though I feel flattered
I am afraid
Unequivocally I must
Deny you a go ahead.

I do not want you
To be a loser
With a fervent desire
To get closer."

Okay,so be it
Swallowing the
Bitter pill
Go forward
I will.

God willing
With my second best
I will proceed ahead
Laying my
Eye-opener love
To rest.

Introduction before the curtain is opened.
-->The  introducer addresses the audience.


Instead of none-stop
Condemning the past
Let us do our part
To lift our country
From economic morass fast.
Better than licking a wound,
Taking corrective measures
On former leaders’ mistakes
We could
Capitalizing, on what
They did good.

(Open Curtain)

--> Enters Emperor Tewodros II

I had tried
Citizens to unite
So that
They will not
Stop short of might
When invaders they fight!

I had also exemplified
Portraying a spectacular
Self dignity and pride
Whatever sacrifices
Trying times demand,
A coward,
An Ethiopian must not
Yield a hand.


To convey
I had also tried,
Though possible
As a tourist,explorer and
Even a covert spy
To enjoy oneself in
Ethiopia, famed for
A hospitable land
The impossibility
To carry away with
A shoe
Ethiopia’s golden
Silt or a sand.


--> Enters Emperor Yohannes IV



In the battle of Gundat
And Gura
I had shuttered
Egyptians' and Khedivi’s
And their Europian advisers'
And North Americans' aura.

Revolted by
A scramble for domestic power
Or salivating for wealth
And abhorring
Stooping to things glittering,
Defending my country
And faith
Valorous, on the forefront
Of a battle
I did shake hands
With the angel of death.


Successors,
There are lessons
You should learn
Adoring your country
Rent seeking
You have to shun,
Putting my country first
A notable self sacrifice
As I had done!


--> Enters Emperor Menelik II


Simply with
A sword and a spear
Carrying a shield
And riding a horse,
I did chase out
To its teeth
With modern weapon
Armed invading force.

When citizens
Join force and unite
With a golden pen
History they can write
History that flickers light
The oppressed,worldwide,
Could win if they fight
For their
God-bestowed right.

Also to modernization
According focal attention
Must be the task of
A given nation
If ignorance and disease
Their tight grip
Must cease.


--> Enters Emperor Haile selassie I

When many warned me
“You will live to regret
Your good gesture!”
To the development of
My country giving
Focal attention
I allowed students pursue
Further education.

I  also allowed many  here
And   abroad a broad-array of
Subjects learn
And their poor country
Serve in their turn.

A prophet
I exposed League of Nation's
Double standard
So that
The world understand
“Though today
Ethiopia’s turn
The flame of fascism
And ******
Tomorrow
Supper powers too will burn!”
It was my wont
In the diplomatic mission
To bring
My country to the front!

Along with fellow leaders,
It was my dream object,
To de-colonize
And unite the continent.

That is why many
Saw for a continental seat
—OAU later AU—
Ethiopia fit.

--> President Mengistu Haile Mariam

As revolution
Was the day’s talk
With the progressive
I broke
On peasants and
The proletariat
Imposed yoke.

Sied Barre’s
Unexpected attack
And intrusion
I had managed
To reverse back,

Also fighting
Mass illiteracy
Was my
Outstanding task.

In fact,
I did try to keep
My country intact.

-->Prime Minister Meles Zenawi

My long-cherished bent
Was ensuring
Political pluralism
And democracy’s advent
For which cause
My youth and adulthood
I spent.

I and combatants
After tyranny
To a grave sent,
I invited
Soon,
Marginalized states
To come aboard and
Equally enjoy
Development’s boon.

In an astounding
Developmental feat
I was out
The unconquerable

—Blue Nile—

To defeat.
Also against poverty
A similar victory repeat.
What is more
On the road
Of Renaissance
I did inspire
Over 80 ethnic group
Forward to run
Actualizing a leap in
Their life span.

A win-win
Environment smart growth
Was what,charismatic,
On the global arena
I brought forth
Making super powers believe
Giving attention to Africa
Is worth.

--> Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn

In trying times
Not to allow
Started mega projects
Suffer a set back
I saw to
Things are on the right track.

More than one cabinet reshuffle
In  the leading party
Deep renewal and reform,
Together with  members,
I did perform!

To a peaceful power transition
I have set a glaring example
A move
In Africa many took unthinkable!
Averse to rent seeking
I am patted on the back
“You have done a nice thing!”


(Close Curtain)

--> Introducer

Conspiracy
To grab the rein
Of power
At the cost of harm
Allowing one ethnic group
On others to tower
Sluggishness in resource
Utilization, not allowing
Development to equally
And fast flower,
Harbouring fright
When citizens exercise
Their allowed democratic right
Are follies
The coming generations
Have to fight
So that
Ensues peace
And days bright,
Off springs of Lucy
We have to always unite!///

Gripped by fright
A full-scale fight
Could once more breakout
At any moment be it
Day or night,
The cousins Ethiopia
And Eritrea
Were beefing up
Their military might
Locked in a border dispute
Exacerbating border
Inhabitants' plight.

For long,
Leaders of the horn
And the international community
Had been observing developments agog
Forced to tune
To the cacophonous war song
"In military prowess
I am the one strong!
A rabbit, I will hack you
Like a feral dog! "

In such shows of force
There was not
Squandered not resource,
Which could feed
Innumerable needy, of course.

In a paradigm shift

"Among siblings
If reign supreme must
Considerateness and peace,
For a border dispute
There is no room please.

Let us build a bridge
Not a wall
Towards common growth
The strife-ridden Horn
Must get  on the ball.

True to the court's
Binding verdict,
President Isaias
Take Bademe as a gift.

To the confluence
Adding up
Is the new roadmap! "

"Thank you Prime Minister
DR Abiy
If love and developmental
****** are entailed
In the roadmap
Rest assured,
I will accord
Your gesture
Thumps up.

Yes, we have to leave
Divide and rule
For the fool!
If the horn
Is to get on the ball
Add up must all"

From formative years
To adulthood serfs-baited
Servants ill-treated
From their means
Of existence alienated,
It is with hatred
From- serfdom- of- every-kind
-the- newly -unshackled heads'
Formatted!

Though their much-lamented land
Has come back to their hand
Tardy,their mind proves not free,
That is why they engage
In a killing spree!
Worse still death to all, allies
Inclusive,they decree!

Although it sounds funny
They pay back gal
For received honey!

Also to cultural norms
And religious ideals blind,
Atavistic they slay
A woman and a child
In a way that is wild.

Oblivious for 9-months
They had a lodging
In a mother's womb
They want to blast it
With a bomb!
They want to shove in it
A spherical thorny wood
As far as they could.

Alive,they grill a man,
For idle or unskilled what
They can't do, he can!

In the name of God
Or religious sects,
Replete at this
Satan-released age,
They behead a man
Made in God's image!///

Bro,tell me please
To your heart's content
Enjoying a French kiss
In squeezing out
The nectar of their lady-hood
Not remiss,
Are the lasses
A cigarette
For a while you keep
By your chest
To burn them to ashes
And ignominiously
Squash them down
Under your heels?

Myself I have to blame
After declaring“I have severed
Our relation, intolerant to
Her theatrical and self-seeking love game!”
Back to square one, under
The pretext of sympathy, of course,
Buckling under her sight and voice
I acted the same,like a moth to a flame!


Though my siblings and friends
Advised, “A leech, if she has no other intent
Then, inconsiderate, she'll bleed you dry
Why should you call her my dove
'Cause her sentiment is far from love!
Dump her, the problem to solve.
Innocent, no need yourself to absolve!”
Back to square one, under the pretext of
Evading conscience-pang—A fickle—

I acted the same,like a moth to a flame!


Offence blind,proving a fool,
I failed to see the wide room
For her to be unfaithful!
No sooner we got out of bed
Acid to my salary,though to garner it
Back myself I have to bend,
She used to hand it over to
Her indolent boyfriend!
Though I knew
Our love was clinically dead,
My youthful life on bitter love
I was forced to spend!
0

Though to lead
WHO chosen,
My moral frozen,
Perpetrators of genocide
And fratricide
From my ethnic side
I have to  support
Abusing my
Diplomatic power
In a bid
They continue to use
On Ethiopians
Political cyanide.

I have to seek
From Egypt
Heavy weapons support
Oblivious tomorrow
My likes and I
Will appear before
The international criminal court.

A sudden power outage
Rams home
Light's advantage!

What exactly is meant
By inexorable grief,
Dawned on me
Off my guard
When you
Turned brief,
Setting my heart afire
With anguish
That knows not a relief!

What a dead or dump nose
That doesn't sense
Death hovers close!
That is why
Oblivious to facts on the ground
I stuck to"Forever together!"

Yet,happily
The Almighty lends
The bereaved power
To outgrow
Such a gloomy hour!

Love is not
By fair means or foul
Meeting ones end,
But it is the negative good
Care to the beloved is ensured!

A faded rose
Retains its
Fragrance for the nose!

At a train station
Something exemplary
Drew my attention
I saw an old man
Kissing his aged wife
"Love of my Life!"

After I lost you,
If I stop you
To adore
Or begin you to abhor,
I never loved
You before.

Even if I am aware
You are no longer mine
I will take that fine.
Exchanging with you
A greeting
By itself is a
Nice thing.



















i

Lack is not
What denied me luck
Rather luck is what I lack!

Yet I craft poems a lot
To change  my lot
God willing
One day to hit
Poetry contests' jackpot!

Lucy


She dwelt among the untrodden ways
    Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise
    And very few to love:

A violet by a mossy stone
    Half hidden from the eye!
Fair as a star, when only one
    Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown, and few could know
    When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh,
    The difference to me!


ድንቅነሽ

እድገቷ እምብዛም ባልተዘወተረው
የሽማ ማጠቢ አቅራቢያ ነው
እንደአንድ ኮረዳ፣ለአድናቆት ሆና
ፍፁም እንግዳ፣
ለፍቅር ተወስና በጣም በጥቂቶች
የልብ ጓዳ፣
ነው የኖረች
ያቺ ሃምራዊ ፅጌረዳ
ዋቅላሚ በወረሰው ኮረብታ
በከፊል ተጋርዳ፡፡

እንደብቸኛ ኮከብ
ጽልመት በለበሰው ሰማይ
ደምቃ አንደምትታይ
ከማንም እይታ ርቃ
ነው የኖረች
እንዲሁም የሚያውቅ  የለም
ድንቅነሽ መች እንደሞተች
ግና መቃብሯ ውስጥ ነች
ወይኔ፣ ልዩነቱ ለኔ!

(ዊሊያም ወርድሰ ወርዝ/ትርጉም ዓለም ኃይሉ)

Intoxicated with
'Might is right! '
The moral dwarfs,
With beefed up muscles
And iron fists,
Drove home fright
Killing and leeching
Alienated natives
Day and night!
They brutally
Subjugated many,
With bare hands,
For God-given freedom
Who have to fight!

Up on gaining
Back freedom
Revolted by
'An eye for an eye! '
Mandela the moral giant
Declared
"Retaliation what for
and why?
A moral dwarf, like
Ex-bosses,
Degrade myself must I?
Though I was robbed of
Sunlight from a lullaby
Almost to the day
I die!
The 'peace and considerateness'
Placard is what we must
Worldwide hover high!

All of us are on our way out
Let us make sure
Behind us we leave
Days bright!

Also we must not forget
Among the white
The presence of
The moral giants
Who fight for
Blacks' right!"

My baby, my burden,
Tomorrow the morn
I shall go lighter
And you will be born.
I shall go lighter
And heavier too
For seeing the burden
That falls up on you
The burden of love
The burden of pain
I'll see you bear both
Among men once again.
Tomorrow you'll bear it
Your burden alone,
Tonight you have no burden
That is not my own.
My baby my burden
Tomorrow the morn
I shall go lighter
And you will be born.//


የሜሪ ሸክም

ልጄ የኔ ሸክም የኔዳ
ነገ በማለዳ
እፎይ እላለሁ
አንተን እገላገላለሁ፣
ግና አንተን ብገላገልም
ሸክሜ አይቀልም
ምክኒያቱም ሳስበው
ያንን ሁሉ ጭንቅ
አንተን የሚጠብቅ
እላለሁኝ ሥቅቅ!
የፍቅርን ሸክም
የስቃይን ሸክም
በፅናት ሁለቱንም
አያለሁ ከሰውልጆች ጎራ
ዳግም ስትጋራ!
ነገ ብቻህን
ትጋፈታጣለህ ሸክምህን
ግና ማምሻውን
የኔ የማይሆን ምንም
ሸክም የለህም!
(ኢሌኖር ፍራጂዮን)

It is not like a tree
In bulk doth make man better be,
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year
To fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere,
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night—
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see
And in short measures life may perfect be.

የሰው ትክክለኛ መስፈርት

እንደዛፍ መግዘፍ
ሠውን አያደርገውም ከፍ፣
ጭራሽ እንደዋርካ
ለሦስት መቶ ዓመታት
በስፋት ተንሰራፍቶ፣
በመጨረሻ መውደቅ
ደርቆ ፣ተራቁቶና አርጅቶ!
በጥቅምት ወራት፣
ባላንድ ቀንዋ ሊሊ
በጣም ብልጫ አላት፣
አመሻሹላይ ብትደርቅም
የብርሃን አበባና ተክል ናት
በምጥንም መስፈርት
ይስተዋላል ውበት!
ክትት ማለት ሲሆን መስፈርት
ግሩም ሳይሆን ይቀራል ህይወት!
(በቤን ጆንሶን) //

Before I Lost you

You were my sun
The azure sky
To scan.  

      After I Lost you

You became
My moon
Desperate to see
You soon.

While walking
In his garden
One morning fine
Seeing a snake
He felt fear
Galloping down
His spine.
As a
Camouflaging trick
Attired a green silk
While zigzagging in
The grass thick
He should have
Squashed its skull
With a walking stick.
But he preferred
To walk away
“Let it there stay
I better
Keep it at bay.”

When he
Came back home
At night
He learnt he has
Lost his son
That suffered
A snake’s bite.

Misplaced mercy
Could backfire
To seek peace
With the snake
One must not tire,
For it will drag one
Into a quagmire
Obligating paying
A price higher.

Ask for mercy
An offender can’t
It is also not right
Unless s/he
Is repentant.

Also forget not
“Strike before
You are struck!”
Could afford one
Prowess luck.

If
The aforementioned
Advice you got,
“Hit when
The iron is hot.”

Modesty to
The heinous
And lazy
Is equally crazy.

If a human snake
Buy time
No doubt it will
Will commit
Further crime.

When you find me by choice cool
Mistake me not for a fool.

If there is a need for being cruel
I could over your eyes pull the wool
With out- heroding- herod's tool.

Unless imbeciles like you
Get a first hand knowledge
What is meant by
A gal-hearted revenge
Or inflicted damage
As goes the adage
"A ball in a China shop!"
They gloat creating
Many a wreckage,
Harbouring a grudge
They could never come to
The same page!

Mom is such
A special word
The loveliest
I've ever heard.

A toast to you
Above all the rest
Mom, you're
So special
You are simply
the best!

እማ

‹እማ› ልዩ ቃል ነው
በጣም ተወዳጅ
ሠምቼ ከማውቀው!

ብርጭቆአችንን እናንሳልሽ፣
ከሁሉም በላይ ከፍብለሽ፣
‹እማ› አንቺኮ ልዩ ነሽ
በቃ በትንሹ አቻም የለሽ!
(በሔለን ስቲነር ራይስ)

With an intent of
Stripping off all--Wives & footholds--
And taking over,
A monkey measures
And measures
Father's foot mark
Walking behind father's back
And inflict on the same attack
Cognizant ,subject to
The wear and tear of time
, feeble,
A defensive hand
Father could lack!

A mentor,  I helped
An apprentice
Acquire a sharp mind
And a nimble hand
Till on his feet stand.

When he realized
He has ensured balance
Began the apprentice
Forward advance,
Quite strange to the behaviour
Of other apprentices.
Ungrateful he started to hurl
Acerbic remark
About  my skills
Casting a covetous glance
For boss's chair a chance.

Moral is a hydra
That has a head extra!

Though from fairytale
Princesses less attractive
Many a man fails
To notice
A  quality love
She could give
As much as
She could receive.

Admiring her
Internal beauty
Compensated by
Her faithfulness,
Integrity and honesty
Adored by her
Enjoying a marital bliss
It is a fortune
Long ,with her to live!