Red Utopia
By Saidu Bangura, Praia, Cape Verde.
“But somehow we survive
severance, desperation, loss”
Dennis Brutus.
Peace –
the all pervasive
the all embracing
the all encompassing –
was the theme
you taught teenagers parading
weighed down with loads,
their worth – they couldn’t explain;
taught primitivism to show corrosive love
– in pieces.
In our vulnerable desperation
rent and battered as we were,
we were embalmed for everything:
mental, physical torture –
so soaked in immobility –
ulcers, headaches, apprehension
were all part of the inescapable.
Yes! fears for the reign
that was beating us,
the metal reign of deprivation
on rooftops, on our backs –
even the perennial cacophonies
were a source of torment.
High we cheer for you
as you have your bite
of the sword, of the dust –
of the dust covering our friends,
of the dust we escaped with stubborn hope
of the smell of blood, your blood
for your Utopia.
Or did I hear you say
‘dystopia’?
Saidu Bangura, October 14, 1998.
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