Nana Yaw Yeboah

Our Holocaust

The cruelty and the horrors of the middle passage can never be told in all its gruesome detail.
It is enough to recall that the ships were trailed.
I have a few questions. Have our memories gone dead?
Or have they gone to sleep?

Heaven forbid, but if the answer is yes.
When will they wake up again?
There are a people who have lost much, much less than what we have,
who have sworn heaven and earth that never ever will they forget what happened to their ancestors.

Then there are a people who have lost almost everything that they have or had,
almost everything including their culture.
But are there a people who have lost everything, including their brains.

Heaven forbid, but hold on.
There are also the weak minded; yes!
The weak minded who can be manipulated by anyone against their own interest to a point that they can and will even forget who they were or are.
Strange, isn’t it? Yes, very ,very strange indeed.
So strange, it’s very weird, but then thank heavens, there are a people who are strong in mind and spirit,
Who also sometimes are subjected to weakness like everyone else.
However, their spirit and minds remain strong.
They are the ones who will never ever forget what happened to their ancestors,
Their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers,
And most importantly their children; the salt of the earth.

We are more than halfway into the first quarter of the 21st century, how are we doing Africa?
Wake up, Africa. Africa, wake up!!!

Poem by Nana Yaw Yeboah

Acknowledgement to Nii Kwate Owoo and Boaten Kodua Akyeampong