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fiachra breac Nov 2017
Ethiopian sunrises are very beautiful, it would appear.

I feel like I am always in Addis
but I've yet to have seen it in the daylight.
Arriving in darkness was no different from the norm,
but I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised by this morning's offering.

Addis appears to be surrounded by peculiar bunches of mountains
that pile up on top of one another.
The dark blue has slowly been replaced by sky,
then yellow,
then pink,
then grey,
then mountain bunch.

I didn't sleep much on the plane.
From about Greece it felt like an age since I had last seen Irish soil.
Why is that?
What is it about travelling that allows time and space to become so closely tethered to one another? It's been barely twelve hours since
I left Sasha, Mum, and Dad in Dublin but it may as well be a year.
I can only hope that this feeling does not overtake me
come the 28th April.
I don't want to have to desperately cling on to the memories of Kiwoko
as they are eroded by the aeroplane's slipstream.

The mountains are getting clearer now.
Varying hues of blue and grey imposed on the horizon.
Off to the East the sky is burning with morning
through thick, white terminal lattice.

There's an impossible to miss radiance
scorching the jagged edge of this Eastern range,
yet it lingers almost imperceptible from the surrounding sky -
as if everything Eastwards is ablaze.
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)///
Base d ON A TRUE STORY (1929 Ethiopian calendar + 8 GC)
( Emperor Menilik II)

An enemy
That covets
Your land, your
Gold-bestowed
Natural wealth
And your wife
Creating a strife
Stripping you of
Your liberty
And identity
Is all out
To mar your life!

This blatant aggression
Standing together
It is better we deter.

So, if intentionally
Or otherwise
On you, if
I might
Have posed
A grievance
To date,
I ask apology
Let us bury
The hatchet.

Among us,
An axe to grind
For a divisive wedge
An enemy cruel & wild
Must not find.

Thus, while
In full command
Of your health
If you fail
To march
To the front
I will take that
To the dignity of
Our sovereign nation
And me
An affront.

I swear to God
I swear to God
Up on return
There is
No restraint
My anger
My punitive
Measures against
Such malingers
Back to hold.

Of course,
We need
The prayer
Of the feeble
And the old,
The heavily-armed
Invading army
When we fight
Supper bold.

I assure you
By the grace
Of God
Victory for us
Is what
The future hold.

(The Chief of the provision wing)

Women of the nation
Pull your sleeves;
As provision
Dry food—
Roasted chickpeas
Roasted peas
Dry meat—
If you prepare
It will be good.
Also to boost
Immunity in
The original way
Prepare and ready
Garlic, red chili
And ginger
In a form of
A powder.

(The principal of transport)

Array pack animals
Provisions to transport
From every corner
Of the nation,
The palace
To the battlefront.
S/he who has
A horse or a mule
Must come along
With some hays
For its fuel.

(The master of musicians)

Take on board
Musical instrumentalists
Vocalists, who
War songs that chant
About victory
At hand not hesitant.

(Traditional Health Professionals)

Also take aboard
Women, herbalists
That will nurse
The wounded
Back into shape
Also the recuperating
To fight back
Who help.

(The logistic head)

Our resource gap to fill
While in the battle mill
We have to take along
Bullet swaggers
Ammunition repairers.
Utilizing such skill
Would allow us
With limited resource
More troops to ****.
This way
The cavalry
And infantry
Will fight
About logistic
With little worry.

(Menilik II)

Let us march
Let us march
To the place of
Showdown
To write
Golden history
Like Golead & David
That has no match!

Let us be
A standard bearer
If united
Freedom fighters
Could a giant enemy
Like Goliad deter.

On my sword
I have engraved
Menilik’s power
Is Almighty God
So behold
Those who pick
Against the peaceful
A sword
Will perish by
The sword.

About colonization
As I earlier grabbed
The import
I had accessed
Enough arsenal
Via the port.
If divide & conquer
Is their aim
With Ethiopians’
Oneness &unity
I will foil
Their game
They will have
Themselves to blame.

In the meantime
King Aba Jifar
Taking over inland
Maladministration, disorder
Will bar
In such a way
Ethiopians’ chemistry
Will be heard
Wide and far.///
Prior to the battle of Adwa
Bellie-boo Nov 2013
It was such a delightful evening,
When,
He came to say "Sorry but I am leaving."
I felt  my breath stop my heart pause  but then,
"I love love you still.
As you should know.
I always have and I alway will.
To  prove my love to you I shall show.
That for every place and everyday,
I travel farther,
I will find someway to say,
You are my only true lover."
So with that he went,
Leaving the promise of a postcard for days away he said.
And everyday one was sent,
And everyday one was read.

Moscow, Russia
Time here is quiet cold,
I hope in my absence that your heart has not been sold.

Copenhagen, Denmark
The people here are sweet,
For you any man I'd beat.

Warsaw, Poland
At my hotel the  floor buttons stars at zero then works up it took nearly an hour to get to my room,
When I get home into your heart  shall I zoom.

Nicosia, Cyprus
The only place to have a map  on its falg till  2008,
You are my desier's only bait.

San Jose, Costa rica
There are so many people here it seems like you can't go five feet without hitting some one,
Love you more then the moon and stars ***.

Addis aababa, Ethiopia
I love you still,
I always will.

Helsiniki, Finland
Their school education is ranked number one,
Maybe we should move and start a family four kids, a cat, a dog could be fun.

Cairo, Egypt
The sites here are amazing (much more than just sand),
What size do  you supose you'd wear for a wedding band?

Athens, Greece
They say it's the cradil of civilization,
They pride themselfs on civilization.

Reykjavik, Iceland
Aka: suprizingly not cold,
Hope my  rambles arn't getting too old.

Male, Maldives
The capital was built on a 2sq mile island yet there are hardly any beaches,
What's in season there again, Peaches?

Bucharest, Romania
While the older men chase after me with sharp sticks the young ladys scream for kisses (grandma says it has something to do with Twilight?)
MY LOVE AND WISHES.

...
.............
...

I go to work without a note,
All I can do is hope.

The day is silent,
nothing was sent.

I walk home as it starts to poor,
My hearts acks soar.

My unbrella's red dome gleams in the gloomy sky,
At my doorstep there is this guy.

His cap pulled down soaked to the bone,
He pulls out a slip of paper that shone.

I take and read it...

HERE, Now
I pray you still love me,
I swear there isn't a fee.
If you still love me,
Pray it be.

"My paciante child, will you marry me?"
Tears form and  he is all I can see.

"Yes!"
My hair is an awful mess.

But I don't care,
I sling my arms around him a hug is the first thing in years we share.

"I love you, too."
Delilah Day Jan 2016
“^Betam ewodihalehu”, The man stares down at his lover.
“I haven’t seen you in so long”, He says, recalling the last time.
They were celebrating their anniversary, taking a trip to ^Addis Ababa,
Eyes shining brilliantly, skin warm under the sun, their hands linked,
Wearing a pink necklace.

They’d sat under their favorite tree, the one he’d proposed under,
The one he’d napped under, head in his lover’s lap
Staring up into cocoa eyes.
Staring up at the happiness dancing in those eyes.

He woke up and looked at the empty space on the bed.
Something was missing.
He made breakfast for two.
Someone was missing.  

He found him under their tree, dancing,
With a German necklace around his neck
Choking the happiness out of his sweet eyes.
“^The Western disease”, they said.

The man wondered if these times are really so different,
From the disturbing death of love in concentration camps,
Pink triangles pinned to lifeless frames,
From the accusations of being non-German just because
They didn’t show the same love.

He wondered why the world must be so hateful
That he had feared to hold his lover’s hand,
How so many had lost their lives in the name of
A warm, innocent, love that was no different
From their prosecutor’s.

He stares at the fresh ground, the wooden cross,
Feels the cold air chilling his face,
And wonders why of all the things,
The glorious history that his home contained,
They’d had to inherit the *******.
^“Betam ewodihalehu” means “I love you very much” in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia.
^Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia.
^ “the Western disease” is what Ethiopians commonly call Homosexuality.

I wrote this for a writing contest at my school with the subject of relating the Holocaust to our current time, I didn't win but I liked it a lot.
Suspected of attack
On fascist Graziani
He was in house arrest
As the case was with
Suspects the rest.

A prisoner of war
Then  via Somalia
He was sent to Rome
Found a black lion
If left at home.


Together with
A prison inmate
From Yugoslavia
Called Julio
He made a rope
Out of a blanket
The reason
To descend down
And escape
From a tower prison.

In a show of contempt
Defying  officials' attempt
To smoke out a fugitive
On the hide
The two at eventide
Returned to open fire
And attack guards
To set  free prisoners
Indeed, victory was
On their side.

Leading  partisans
Abdissa made it his duty
To gruel fascists
With insurgent activity.

What was the outcome?
Parallel to the allied forces
When he entered Rome
With Ethiopia's tricolor
Around his wrist
He was accorded
A warm welcome.

Then he turned his face
To allied-forces'-
'For Berlin' race
In rooting out **** troops
He spurred the pace!

Asked to stay in Europe
He said shalom
"Home sweet home!
As written on the bible
Can an Ethiopian change
His skin
or a leopard its spots?
Doing so
Will it not be a sin?"

The unsung hero
Returned to Addis
Turning Fascist and Nazis'
Wild dreams to zero!
He is one of the black lions of Ethiopia. He demonstrated Ethiopians' heroism beyond Africa's perimeter. My poem indomitable Ethiopia is in the same wavelength.
The Unsnag Hero
Abdissa Aga was born in south western Ethiopia in a province called Welega.
It was when he was 14 he joined the Ethiopian defense force.
In 1935 when fascist Italy that was armed to the teeth with modern arsenals baptized the country with banned poisonous gas conducting innumerable sorties, he decided to reinforce the fight in defense of his motherland.
But Abdissa sustained injuries and ended up in a hospital. Later, he was subjected to house arrest around Piazza, his residential area.
After Ethiopian patriots’ attempt to assassin Rodolfo Graziani , whom Italy assigned to administer Ethiopia, suspected of involvement in the plot, Abdissa was once more detained along with 37 house-arrested Ethiopians.
After a gruesome time in prison, via Somalia, and then under the jurisdiction of fascist Italy, he was sent to Rome as a prisoner of war.
There he was under scrutiny. Along with another captive from Yugoslavia called Hulio, he was designing different plans to escape from the prison.
One day making a rope out of his blanket and descending down the tower prison he managed to escape. But, instead of becoming a fugitive on the run, returning back late at night to the prison and opening fire on the guards he let the prison inmates free to flee.
In so doing, he demonstrated valor is a virtue Ethiopians need borrow from nowhere. The unfolding carried across the message Ethiopians’ military prowess is not only showcased in Adwa but also in Italy.
Teaming up the prisoners from different countries he set free as partisans, he pressed ahead with waging fierce attacks on Italian troops in their own country. He was beating them by the rule of their own game.
As they knew Ethiopians’ heroism starting from Adwa they became very much afraid of him. In numerous engagements with them he did emerge victorious. He kept on ambushing and surprising the fascist troops.
Offering him different allurements they were sweet talking him to join ranks with the Italian army. He turned a deaf ear to their requests making clear joining a fascist force is a treason committed on own country.
When World War II broke out he joined the tide against the Axis powers.
United State of America and English were fighting with Italy that was supporting **** Germany. Stunned by Abdissa’s heroism they saw it fit to ask him to join the allied forces. Making use of this support , beefing up the muscle of his army he did a great job in disarraying fascist troops in their own country.
After the ignominious defeat of fascist troops, when the English and US forces entered into Rome he followed suit with an array of his fighters that tried Ethiopia’s flag round their wrist. When he, on par with the rank of a general, made a divine entrance into Rome hovering high Ethiopia’s flag  he was accorded a warm welcome by the allied forces.
Next he played quite a role in vanquishing **** forces when the allied forces mounted attack on **** Germany. He was still hovering high Ethiopia’s flag in liberating many Germany towns being pulverized in the crossfire. He played incalculable role in combing out brutal **** troops.
Promising handsome rewards the allied forces did try to persuade him to join them. But Abdissa put down his foot. He made clear “However poor my country may be, I will not abnegate it! My love to Ethiopia is next to none!”
Vexed by the cold shoulder greeting he showed to their offers finding a pretext they put him behind bars.
Later, released, he came back to Ethiopia to Join the Special Imperial guard with the Imperial given title Colonel.
Colonel Abdissa Aga died soon after the demise of the Emperor Haile Sellasie I.
The younger generation has to learn a lot from this exemplary heroism and love for motherland.
From the 4 corners of Addis
Sunday school students
At a Meskel Square make a throng
All the procession beating a drum
Ululating and singing a song
With a passion strong.

"Queen Helena (Elene)
Mother of Constantine the Great
Found the true cross
Buried under
A dump-mountain long
By those who  read  Jesus
The incarnated word wrong."

"Advised by a monk
Led by an incense smoke
The whereabouts of the place
As she saw in her dream/revelation
(326AD)
Queen Helena managed to unlock."

The n-curve of the smoke
As a pointer
Allowed her a go ahead
To dig the mountain
Beneath its bed.
That is what Ethiopia
Has been zealous
To commemorate
To date
(For over1600 years).


At sundown
When by the patriarch
And the mayor
The bonfire is lit
Priests and deacons
Sing and dance circling it.

An electrifying vibe
Overwhelms
Spectators' spirit
Proving the event
A hit.

"Fail not to note
The cross is power,
Perseverance
And soul's medicine
To our sin an antidote !"

An ocean of vigil light
Accentuated by the darkness
Of the night
Allows souls' flight
To the extreme height.

At last if the bonfire
Falls towards the right
It will be
Celebrants delight
Specially if a rain
Puts the fire out.

Celebrants return
To their home
To attend petty
Similar events
That ripples across
The nation
In the same fashion.

On the morrow
Returning back
To the ashes' bed
They draw a cross
On their forehead.


On 27 Sep
Tourists  in droves
Come
To Ethiopia
For a first hand knowledge
" Ethiopia raises
Its hand to God
Demonstrated many fold."

Here reflecting is a wise thing
In the division of the cross
To avoid a similar thing
Ethiopia(During the Era of
its emperor Dawit/Middle age)
has received
The right wing.

At a cross-like
Mountainous road,
It is placed
At Geishen Mary's church
Which the laity takes
As Saint Mary's abode.
I wish all of you attended the event today! If possible see it on line.

The right wing on which Christ is crucified is found in Ethiopia.Ethiopia has been commemorating the event for over 1600years.This intangible heritage is inscribed in UNESCO'S intangible heritage list.
Michael Marchese Jun 2018
Laced with historic allusion
Confusion
Don’t know what to speak of
Or how to exude it
A presence relentless
In its mystifying
Perplexities tantalus
Solace undying
Engaged in the way
I fall prey
To her spell
When I’m under the cover
Of darkness
I dwell in

— The End —