Sometime from now, we will (Malaria)

I wrote a new poem guys. Well, not quite. Truth is, I edited a poem I wrote about AIDS to reflect thoughts on Malaria (Anti-Malaria). After attending the Boston AIDS Walk in 2005, I got so inspired about fighting AIDS, which is probably the most deadly disease known to man. HIV-AIDS affects a lot of Africans and at one point, I heard it kills hundreds of Africans each year and the disease is getting deadlier in other parts of the world.

Anyway, I was pumped to do something about the AIDS epidemic after I took part in the walk. So I wrote about how that enthusiasm could probably die slowly day after day. It's the same for a lot of things. You hear about something really bad, you got worked up, and more often than not, the next day you are not as enthused and couldn't really care. Sometime from now, maybe we may be able to do a great deal to stem the tide and control the spread of these diseases or ready ourselves to make great strides to solving problems that just don't seem to go away.

In the meantime, you can enjoy this poem. I 'performed' this poem at an event at Stanford recently, a concert organized by I-AM - Initiative Against Malaria, a student group at Stanford.

Sometime from now, we will

Twenty years from now
We will be thinking how; we couldn’t put the seize to the disease
When with the issues, we seemed at ease

Fifteen years from now
We will be lamenting how; we failed to speak up, and shut up
Disregarding the holes that we dug up
Disregarding the holes that were dug up

Twelve years from now
We will be studying how; we searched and researched around the clock
While they made gains against us with no bargains

Nine years from now
We will be recounting how; we had nine chances to resolve and change
While marginalizing the opportunity to change to some day in the calendar

Seven years from now
We will be asking how; we rejected manna from heaven and signs of the times
Gutted by the gutters and shooting nothing but net for the nets

Six years from now
We will be describing how; we talked and uneducated ourselves in the process
Growing fresh weeds in the midst of weeding

Four years from now
We will be remembering how; we baited them to war
And their members ate through what we wore

Three years from now
We will be discussing how; we saw the data change and the analysis stay the same
While our arms remained crossed and our fingers stayed pointed

Two years from now
We will be loving how we sprayed and we thought this mosquito mos quit o!
But it won’t so I no fit mail the female anopheles in

One year from now
We will be buzzing about how; we bossed over whose expense created the biggest buzz
While they buzzed around in areas where our buzz is expensive

One month from now
We will be dreaming how; we will act, implement our ideas and enjoy our company
Until we are reminded we have a week from then to do something

One day from now
We will be surprised how; we felt good talking the talk and walking the walk
But we lived in the moment and stayed intense with the audience

One moment from now
We will be devising, strategizing, fantasizing and planning how
We will be proud of ourselves twenty years from now, how
We fought Malaria, uplifted our people and for our efforts, were taking one big bow.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Learnt how to say "Thank You" in 23 African languages

Introducing REACH-Ghana on the occasion of World AIDS day

Learnt how to say "Happy birthday" in 13 African languages