Africa Backpedalling Poem by John Sensele

Beautiful ones seldom in Africa born
Intrigue and priority fatigue blowing a haughty horn
Despite Walter Rodney's notable narrative
National cake sharing predominantly subjective
Emergence of Nelson Mandela an efficiency exception
Leopard Sedar Senghor a rare relinquish of power at inception
Africa has backpedalled
Constitution manipulation has spiralled
Personal aggrandizement dwarfs national good
Rewarding thugs and bootlickers has grown into food
To despatch political rivals into solitary confinement
Endeavouring in self delusion to floor God's firmament
Exporting raw cocoa, copper and cobalt
While local entrepreneurship grinds to a halt
Dwarfed by global efficiency
Emboldened by local firm foothold deficiency
Business as usual
Leadership acting casual
Hardly batting a lid
If ghetto babies plead
For milk breast their mamas can't supply
Cos misplaced priorities apply
Distorted rules that add salt to injury
Given how puppet masters empower cash penury
Emasculating Equatorial Guinea
Dragging brave breadwinners to their knee
While parasites in a show of ostentatious living
Terrorize the vulnerable who cultivate a virtue of forgiving
Pillagers who remove national resources
Devising stratagems to conceal wealth sources
From inept investigators
Stifling limping litigators
But hands of time
Trace every ill-gotten dime
No matter how long it takes
Hands of time reveal monster mistakes
As Madiba's soul in his grave shakes
At Africa's litany of politically engineered earthquakes
But do they ever learn?
Do they care for a laudable legacy to earn?
Is this fair?
The truth do they ever declare?
Trumped up charges on dissenters grow rife
Appetite to fix one big mouth or another catalyzes strife
On a political podium
Denuded of obvious odium
As inconvenient civil servants they fire
Hardly stopping to check whether they inspire or misfire.