BRIG   WILMAH (brigmatts@yahoo.com)

Brig Wilmah (pen-name) is a national of Tanzania. Though he was born in Kenya, he had his entire early educational career in Tanzania.  At present, he is undergoing further studies in a university in Tanzania.  He is an avid political activist who believes so much in Africa’s emancipation from the shackles of bad governance with recourse to colonialism and Neo colonialism.  Most of his poems reflect that objective. The omissions in his profile is due to the critical slant of his poems

UNCREATIVE VERMIN

They rose from poverty                                                                                                                                                                            Caught an elevation                                                                                                         That now, is eating our sweats                                                                Claiming awful share                                                                                                                                            Under the facades of leadership                                                                                They are too honourable                                                                                                                                     And they are busy within their suites                                                                    They say they are planning strategies                                                                               So we can develop our nation                                                                            But we don't see any direction.

There is a President                                                                                                                          Ministers and Parliamentarians                                                                  Living within terribly expanded type of ruling                                                                   A lot of Ministers, yet no ministration                                                                                   Only to useless the huge amount of budgets.                                                             Others are Commissioners                                                                                           They have been accredited outside the country                                                                   So our cultures, resources                                                                                     Can no longer be a locally known wealth                                                                      But get access abroad so they can finance our elbows                                                                              Ooh! My God what have they done?                                                               Only demanding remittances?                                                                                                             Demanding money from our organized productions?                                                They can't explain what much their                                                                               Embassies attribute to our development.

See these other uncreative vermin                                                                            They say education is a key                                                                                                We sent them to learn volumes of knowledge                                                                                   But ask them                                                                                                              “What has your doctorate effected in our economy?”                                                                             “Tell us what you Professors are doing?”                                                                Only supervision of faculties at universities?                                                  Thirsting for leadership?                                                                                      “What else?”                                                                                                           Is it acting as subgods of those universities?                                                                You all are the same.                                                                                          Uncreative vermin, bedbugs dreaming of increase                                                                  Of salaries in the reality of failure to mobilize creativity                                                                                        In the thousands of graduates passing via your hands.

“Tell us!”                                                                                                                                                            What should we say about you?                                                                                                                                                    Vermin who head departments                                                                                                                                                                                          Special for the production of intellectuals                                                                                                   Vermin who go to press for salaries                                                                                                                      Instead of carrying out research.                                                                                                                                  We need an era of true revolution                                                                                                                                        To produce sets of intellectuals                                                                                                                        Who will always                                                                                                                                             dream of creativity and discovery                                                                                                                                                                          We need a new set up                                                                                                                                Which will bring our people ready to be                                                                                                                         Accountable to nation building.

BLESS THEM WOMEN

God bless them women                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 For they are the first eyes of the world                                                             Teaching children how to look                                                                                       They bring kids to recognition

God bless th em women                                                                                                 They venture into hardships from men                                                                        Some harsher than piercing pins                                                                                But keep on for children, their womb's pains

God bless them women                                                                             Beings who never grow soulless                                                                                   When life is so tense and hard                                                                                Bless them for they do not run to leave their kids

God bless them women                                                                                                   They are, who work on empty stomachs                                                                        But ready to feed their kids                                                                                             Kids feeding on hungry mothers                                                                                 How right is this?

God bless them women                                                                                        They are, who get beaten from their men                                                                        Yet run to apologize                                                                                            They easily subdue themselves to responsibilities                                                       And warm their houses for the family                 

God bless them women                                                                                               They are, who after working the hardest                                                             Sanitation, shaping kids morally                                                                                           And preparing every burden they are needed for                                                          Become dog tired but ready to be their men's beds                                                                                                 God bless these light- voice creatures                                                              For they are true shoulders of the world.

THE COMING

I'm happy for I see them

They are far away from me

They seem like shadows of men

Ripped by storm.

The ocean is violent

But they are paddling slowly

They are in difficulties

But they are coming.

They are now aware of their mistakes

When they relied on soulless men

They seem tired of letting them go on

They have one goal: sweeping clean Africa!

Yes, the coming will arrive

For they are from troubles and miseries

As they know much about poverty

It’s true they will re-structure the system.

They for long have seen embezzlement

And know the outcomes it bring

They know about irresponsibility

Thus they will rescue our struggle.

When they will arrive

The coming will be sympathetic with the majority

So, they will work for our nations

To make Africa proud of them.

The coming will show all that Ngugi

Tried to criticize

They won't let down Achebe

They will work for success.

Due to their long examination of how

Africa has been falling

The coming will emphasize basics

So Africa can be erected and built on strengh.

I'm happy their shadows show

They won't sell Africa

They won't bank millions abroad

And they will never be power-mongers.

Their smiles shows

They believe corruption stagnates development

And causes poverty to many

So, they won't do that.

They promise to enhance creativity

They promise to mobilize manpower

And create many jobs, make it part of budgets

To make sure every one contributes his/her goodness.

The coming will shape psychologies

They will bring people centered technologies

Not horizontal transfer

So that Africans can be inventors of sophistication

Not repairers of foreign made.

 BEST FRIENDS I EVER HAVE

Growing kids of my people                                                                                                Listen to my inheritance to you                                                                                    ‘ Cause it is the most valuable Will                                                                                        I give your minds                                                                                                                  Sit where you are                                                                                                                Force this massage in your hearts                                                                                                                          Understand what it really is about                                                                                     Realize what I want you to do                                                                                                       ‘ Cause I see your fathers still                                                                                                                        Busy stealing wealth of our poor nations                                                                          No one cares for betterment                                                                                                 The reason I'm optimistic in you.

Children, please understand me                                                                                        It is now over enough of black people being weaklings                                                                                     Hate looking forward for grants                                                                                           Kids I expect you to come up with solutions                                                                     Don't conform how we your parents lived                                                                        Disassociate with Africa of poverty                                                                                                 Hate weakling blackness                                                                                                                 Kids re-write the statistics                                                                                              Never agree with what black had connoted.

Dear darlings from our seeds                                                                                                   Why do you leave philosophizing for ancient Greeks?                                                                             Hate the lack of black philosophers in the world books                                                                 Fight to be the best psychoanalysts                                                                                                                             Boys and girls                                                                                                                               You are the best friends I ever have                                                                                          So do the best that befits critical thinkers                                                                       Don’t leave off everything to the hands of nonblacks.

 My friends:                                                                                                                    Stand against what my uncreative professors did                                                                Be guided by myth                                                                                                                   Black should make notable contribution in this world                                                                                            Don't let your kids also be                                                                                        Learners of what no black fellow invented                                                             Revolutionize your time by every idea                                                                                 So we can come up with the actions of black scientists                                                            Don't be pompous of presidency or self-governance                                                                                    ‘ Cause our leadership came forth from abroad                                                                             Leaving the seeds of development there                                                                                    It is a shame of you becoming                                                                                           Users of foreign technologies, that’s hopeless                                                                      One day you will own yours, or change theirs                                                                 Shame Blacks who live at the mercy of others’ technology.

You, the best friends I ever have                                                                                                       Dread of living in the world other people worked                                                                Refute to be marginal in the coming of every good                                                               Face the challenge to pull to the helm                                                                                        We your parents have lived                                                                                                                   But on mess of inactivity to shoulder our locality                                                                         Living in a developed century                                                                                            But giving less energy to advance our own home.                                                                                                                                             Kids, oppose the trend                                                                                                                  Dream of not leaving everything to the honkies                                                             Damn your parents’ inabilities                                                                                         Uproot weakness, plant steerings                                                                                       Don't stand indifferent to what I say                                                                                    Scan everything                                                                                                         ‘ Cause what is different between "they"                                                                                 And “we” is "You"                                                                                                               Until you believe in marching                                                                                                Is when you will face who is at your front                                                                              Believe you can do better than what they did                                                                                     Pull forth and you will be the celebrity.                            

Kids, you are the best friends I ever have                                                                                                                     So learn what I’m telling you                                                                                              Your fathers, weak;                                                                                                             Are damning themselves to weakness                                                                                       Your mothers teach of subduing, so oppose them                                                                    Tell the parents                                                                                                                       You believe in the unknown soldier in mankind                                                  That you believe "they" have to be challenged                                                                      I swear I will be close to you spreading courage                                                                                Hate them unconscious blacks, rotten vermin                                                                   The bastards leaving creativity to the pigs’ heads                                                                 Let them recognize you as                                                                                                Black generation for change.

Kids, you are the only hope I have                                                                            The only souls I live to see                                                                                              In you I believe one day blackness will be honoured                                                           So don't betray me                                                                                               I know my life has done only a little above naught                                                                               But I’m a base, a ground for you to stand                                                                          Note that you are supposed to bring revolution                                                                     Clear my failure; stand on me to look where I did not                                                                 Brave like the Unknown Soldier, never to say retreat                                                           You must be the outspoken scientists, philosophers .                                                         If you do this, no one will say I’m defeated                                                                       I say again and again                                                                                                          Let not every good come from those who enslaved you                                                                                 Fight intellectually to be at the top                                                                                Re-write the World Book with black records                                                                      Until the end of the world know of black reputation                                                             Work all possible to make sure there is black glory                                                                                  Blacks will be honoured ‘cause they are mighty                                                                        And this will be done "in the name of black might."

MY TATTOOED TEARS

I don't know if am a victim                                                                                                                      Victim of reality                                                                                                                       Probably I was born to be up,                                                                                                                      If not, am not destined to pride                                                                                                 God must have done a mistake to let me live                                                                                                          For He let me be like this                                                                                                           But made me under people with different characters                                                            In my life I always believe in African strength                                                                             I see reasons for our being more developed                                                                   If we can't be so, God did a mistake to mould me so                                                              I don't want to see the way                                                                                                      Sons and daughters of my “world” cry of poverty.

My people:                                                                                                                      Connoted as the underclass of the world?                                                                           In this I don't believe                                                                                                         I can't give in to say this is a reality                                                                                          ‘ Cause it can't be that I was born to be low                                                                          That is something no terror can plant in me                                                                      My belief is the roaring truth                                                                                               That we were not born to suffer inconsequentially                                                            Until the end of time                                                                                                           That is out of character,                                                                                                             For we are characteristically bound to be mighty                                                                       I know this and I believe it.                                                            

The reason why I write Afro-paternal poems,                                                         Reminding my colleagues, we must go where we belong                                                                   The coming of Black wills should be fore                                                                              And it will any way be my message                                                                                      That wherever you all live, all over the globe

Shacks in Europe,                                                                                                          American ghettos,                                                                                                                Else where in the jitterbug's world                                                                                       True ‘will’ for blacks is worthwhile having

I shed my tattooed tears                                                                                                  And feel the tremendous reproach                                                                               When leaders, relatives forget the myth in negritude                                                         When they seem not tenable                                                                                                 To the genetic commonness we have                                                                       Sometimes I feel they don't see                                                                                ‘ Cause they grip religion more than skin colour                                                                                        To hate one another because the Bibles are different                                                           They differentiate themselves                                                                                                                     ‘ Cause one has where to sleep, while the other has not                                                  

There is a formula for Blacks to enjoy life at desirability                                                                                                    True feelings when our colour  prides our interactions                                                                                          Pleasure is when all Blacks hate being an underclass                                        Understanding who you are is a primary victory                                                       Realizing the common need you have is the next                                                                                                                  Sprint to give batons to one another at  a precious step                                                                                                                        When all is done, the worthwhile comes on hand.

THEY STARTED CROOKING

Hey! Face the history

See the truth of history, know it

Please feel its meaning.

Fore, we walked

Fore, our fore daddies were living

They were alone and developing.

Our ancestors were on the highway

So history proves

They had notable developmental creativity.

Then came villains

Hungry vultures, dangerous to them

Africa was robbed naked.

The vultures shot up their noses

Implanted what you see today

Insecurity, poverty and inactive idiocy.

The strange world, visited for evil

They came to rob

And instill despise, sub consciousness.

Hey! Man!

They started crooking our steps

Thus, we lost our developing notion.

Hell as it is

They undermined our life, so enslaved us

They made us toilers, enbossed themselves.

They developed alienating views

African-blacks, fire-wood collectors

Meant to be servicemen of the whites-Darwin C.

They stood as our tyrannous cocks

And crowed

Short hairs, sign of mental immaturity.

Boys and girls

To make us low inferior bastards

Foreigners used years to degrade our morale.

They discouraged our wills

Killed Afro-technology, damned us with insufficiency

So they could reap our preciousness.

The history of your fore fathers is bitter

‘ Cause they lived less human

Times of receiving a cent for working a month.

They ruined black power by prejudice

Crowned themselves, but holy-blacks to work for them

Limited our prosperity to make us forever low.

But children-black, survived

We lived while eating diseases

Grew in time we were expected to get rotten.

 Despite their millions of writings

Their way to make us feel losers

We ventured and here we are a set of victory.

So we are

Men lived when servitude raged

Passed times when hell barked on us.

So we are

Boys and girls born when the past had obstructions

So we are survivors.

And now that we are breathing,

Let us on this chance get where it suits survivors

‘ Cause we shaped the hostility and so survived.

Walk forth this life

Never rest on this meager chance

Do your things by all means possible -hit the jackpot.

Walk this life to the top

Splash against downing feelings

‘ Cause Afro-blacks got to be up in special places.

Look where you are

See what is wrong and clear it out

Give dimes to any inheritor of black wills.

Look how spins the world

Observe its rules, trend and speed

Jerk up your head; face what is needed of you.

We came a long way

We fought so we could live

Our lives will be, if every black will be first to smile.

Resuscitate all your ambitions on progressiveness

Communicate by the myth

blackswillbethetop@worthwhile.com

Kids of my brothers' seed,

Rise in knowing; believe the Bible when it says

“A slave will become a master”

Once upon His times, Jesus- rejected;

Said: “the rejected stone will make the cornerstone”

So believe, the rejected, will become the figures of this world.

Let us learn our position, pull up

Crash the weakness and reverse the crookedness

‘ Cause black is destined high

Some day, Blacks gonna make sweet this world.                               .