Misunderstood Land Poem by Huseyin Abudharr Ali Diakides

Let me introduce myself my name is Sudan,
You probably think you know me but I'm a misunderstood land,
In the past I've been known by different names,
Kush, Sudan, Sannar, but they all mean the same,

When you think of me you may think of war,
You may think of the massacres in Darfur,
But once you used to think of my waters,
As the place where civilization was born,

Now you think of my war torn slums,
And places that you daren't go,
But you used to come from across the known world,
To bring gifts to my mighty Pharoahs,

You used to talk about my Caliph of Sannar,
Now you think of devils on horses Janjaweed,
You used to think of me when you mentioned Kush,
But nowadays you think of the Ganja Weed,

Now I'm split in two like a heart that's broken,
But you used to speak of empires, when my name was spoken,
My greatest blessing became my curse,
They found oil in me nothing could be worse,

They tried in vain to destroy my past
And tried so hard to keep it a secret,
So now you may think of my tribal conflicts,
But we used to battle with the might of Egypt,

So please don't just think of my child soldiers,
Cos you used to ponder how we moved great boulders,
To create pyramids, it's still a mystery,
So mourn my present, but celebrate my history.