Rencontres et Ateliers

International Day of Peace (Dakar-UNIC), REPAOC presents a poem

 
 

 

POEM: PEACE REACHES OUT TO US
 

 

If I could speak,

 

I will tell you an ordinary story

 

It seems to be hot?

 

Yes it’s hot in the kitchen and that sounds normal

 

But it’s hot in the shower and that is paradoxical

 

On the head,

 

Under my feet,

 

She’s tapping the heat!

 

At midday the sun rages and at midnight it seems to be angry!

 

It is hot in the North, not less in the South

 

It’s hot in Ziguinchor, not less in Dakar

 

I go to the North Pole where everything seems normal

 

But the West cries behind me

 

Burma shouts behind me

 

Nigeria cries behind me

 

Togo shouts behind me

 

Senegal shouts behind me

 

Help ! global warming, it’s too hot!

 

What is this heat?

 

This heat represents armed conflicts, wars, displacements …

 

Conflicts have thrown Africa into a dark hole

 

Hole from which it is impossible for him to perceive the sun of development

 

And from the blossoming of its life-saving rays

 

On the other ends of the earth

 

The stoic attitude of some African leaders

 

Who want to create African unity is certainly noble

 

But she finds herself confronted with an enormous obstacle:

 

Disunity, corruption, greed and greed of some people!

 

If I could speak ….

 

Look at this crowd with face fixed on me

 

Watch these hearts beating

 

Look at these people these people who have kept in them the brutality of the past days

 

Wounds that suppurated, keeping in them the brutality of the past days

 

It is said that young people no longer want to hear anything

 

Bored by so much bitterness

 

Impatience flows in their veins

 

And pours out in their desires!

 

Silence

 

Silence of the conspiracy

 

Silence of the denial of the world

 

We dress our fights with silence

 

And we want to erase our existences

 

Until when ?

 

How long will the day be black?

 

How long will the night remain bleached?

 

How long will the lamb be bound to chains of sorrows and pains?

 

Dawn has lost color

 

The bright color of this garden in crisis

 

And the sounds were silent at the feet of the crossroads

 

The goal is common

 

Why not do it

 

Why not walk together on a path without thorns

 

And without lianas that is of PEACE?

 

Peace is not an empty word

 

But a behavior to teach our children

 

If we want peace, let us prepare for peace

 

If we want peace

 

Seeds wherever we need seeds of peace

 

Tolerance and non-violence.

 

If I could speak

 

I will sing loud and clear wherever I need to

 

That peace is possible, if we believe it is possible.

 

Peace holds out our hand and we must take the step

 

Peace is not only beautiful words

 

But it is also in our way of looking at our neighbor

 

And tell him we love you!

 

Peace is not only beautiful speech

 

But it is our way also to seek to see

 

If our neighbor next to us is doing well!

 

Peace is not a matter of nationality

 

But it’s a question of humanity!

 

Peace is not a matter of treaties or agreements

 

But it is a plant that sows, water and talks!

 

If I could speak

 

I will tell you do not be afraid, peace is possible!

 

If I could speak

 

I would quote the Wolof proverb: “When ten people dig a hole, and ten others put sand back in there,

 

there will be a lot of dust but a pit will never be built”

 

Then we Africans,

 

Whatever our nationality

 

Whatever our origin

 

We must love each other

 

We need to get together

 

To lift this torch of peace!

 

Peace is still possible

 

And it depends on you and me!

 

Peace reaches out to us

 

African, African!

 

Peace reaches out to us, my brothers and sisters!

 

If I could speak,

 

I will tell you: “I have spoken”

 

An adaptation by

 

SESSI Sefiamenou Yao

 

REPAOC-Dakar / September 2017

                    

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