Editor’s Note: This poem is written by a Sierra Leonean teenager Abie Samura (photo). It is dedicated to the Day of the African Child, June 16.
The Lion
By Abi Samura, London, United Kingdom.
Finally, the lion was released
from its cage. By now it was iced
with its reddish brittle coating,
that had left the lion isolated,
kept it captive for centuries
that passed by like foreign tourists.
On this dry sand the lion
ran widely without the
buoyancy of the clouds carrying
it through the dusty desert.
But this did not faze the lion,
for it took almost eternity
for its fight to freedom.
Years of living in darkness
its glowing golden fur, covered
in the cold black dirt,
searching for the white
lustrous stone that had made
false promises of seeing
the light of freedom.
The aggressive, burning
light this lion had prayed to
see for years greeted it
as an old friend.
For the sun
had long-awaited for
the lion’s return.
Now the lion had ran
from its blacks and greys,
into the greens, whites and blues
to reunite its colours
"Mighty they made thee"
onto the mountains, high
to release that destined roar.
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