MELES OUR HERO

Our Ibex, our Lion

Our Aesop, our Falcon

Our slave, Ethiopia’s God’s gift,

Africa’s lawyer, just and fair

A lion in the jungle, but,

Soothing, fresh, breeze in the air

You will be remembered by history

As the living brain in a mighty library

Marxist at heart, fighter for equality

Lifelong soldier, to eradicate poverty

A new breed of a rare shining light

Selfless public servant day and night

The sun’s morning ray –

the Milk-way start’s dust

The guardian Angel - of my people’s trust.

Melesey, you had it all

Love - Knowledge - Vision - Dreams - Courage

Everywhere you went - you reinvented Ethiopia’s image

You made us proud; now, we are addicted to reciting our identity

‘I am from the land’ we say-

where the scientific facts say “cradle of humanity”

where culture is richer than human imagination

‘I am from the land’ we say-

where pride defines our name, & nationalism proves our fame

Where the happy colors Green, Yellow & Red, wave on a peaceful horizon

MELESEY, Our HERO, may the mighty bless your name.

Whether you were at home or in a foreign land

Right there on your side, we always wanted stand

To lend you a helping hand, to achieve your goals

To lay beneath you - should you stumble and fall

to share your vision - to learn your aim & scope

to watch you smile – for your fruits of long awaited hope

MELESEY

You are the victor in our direction -The momentum in our velocity

The focus of our telescope & the center of our galaxy;

You are the hydrogen in our fusion – The mass in our weight

The nuclei of our joy & the sun in our light

You are the root in our flower – the neurons in our brain

the tune of our music - the frequency of our beat.

The pulse of our breath - & the arteries in our hearts.

You are the line in our path – Alpha Omega of our being

During dawn and twilight - you are the shadow along our journey

The confidence in our drive  & the assurance in our stride.

You are the resiliency to our weakness - & the protector of our dreams

the feelings in our poem - the peace in our home

Our inspiration, the pendulum of our life - Our Hero, in all its meanings.

As you eloquently expressed it during our famine days

Today we return your heart felt tender words

Your departure has brought ‘the saddest time in our lives’

But you are the rain to our pain - and the cerebrum of our brain

the sun of our day - & the shining candlelight of our night

If I were a poet –

The dictionary would be my bible & I would memorize every word –

So I could write you, never-ending poems –

Until the ink in my pen saturates my entire papyrus

Or just like your revolutionary days

Until the forgotten lit cigarette burns my fingers…

But, even then, I would continue writing on the walls

With words & phrases that define you & moves others

Veracious & honest testaments

Even the deaf can sense their meanings

If I were a poet…

I would write you a poem with my blurry eyes,

As my tears would rain down my face

Spilling my passion and emotions on to my papers

Each word would carry immeasurable feelings.

I would write you a poem

For your genuine smile & your twinkling eyes

For your empathetic listening & ocean deep patience

For your articulate messages and world class intelligence

I would write you a poem –

For your kindness, humility and grace           

Your demand and quest for perfection

Never accepting anything less than our best

I would write you a poem –

Even for your clear and sharp glasses

Avid reader of those countless books.

I wish I were a poet –

I would write you a mesmerizing epyllion poem

Unequaled & lovelier than anything written before

I would be your G. E. Gorfu “Simple” yet magnificent 

I would be your Maya Angelou, perfecting my choice of words –

Clear & vibrant, like a morning dawn of an eastern horizon

I would be your Sibhat G/gziabhere, honesty & sincere –

Letting my thoughts flow unrestricted like an oasis - 

Emancipating from the abyss, & dripping through the end points of my fingers

Though, if I were a painter –

            I would be your Afewerk Tekle, and paint you a Canvas

            Larger than Ethiopia’s circumference

            A masterpiece of green yellow red & blue –

            that shines brighter than the rays –

            Perfect mix of all spectrum lights

            Even a blind man can feel,

            the wavelength of the happy colors.

I would want to be a choreographer though –

So I can create us unforgettable dance -

Allowing me to touch you and hold you close

Just like lovers, our fingers would fill in each other’s gaps

Resembling one, metaphorically synchronized & figuratively entwined 

As we lean & sway, we glide across the hall ever so effortlessly

Unrecognizable as two, impeccably inseparable elements

Just like Pluto, covalent bonds become history of the past

Our love, bond, and unity, sets a new standards!

Yet, I want to be a singer too! – Because I want to compose you a song –

Where the consonance defuses the dissonance

The cords & the notes everything would be in rhythm

I would write you a song one each for your tolerance & your perseverance

For your intellect, your strength and sea of knowledge

For your analytical ability and diplomatic persuasive ways

If I were a scientist -

I would be geologist and anthropologist

As I tenderly kiss your cultivated green leaves

I would step & walk your soil with grace -

While unearthing its inner beauty,

My body would shake (tremble) upon the touch of your embrace,

Knowing you represent pure love of my identity

You preach equality, proving we are all connected

Just first cousins of a one big family tree.

Yet, I would want to be a doctor and neurologist

So I can learn how to keep you alive for centuries

I want to trap your breath from escaping you to the heavens.

If I were a Neurologist, I would unzip my skull & let you in

to view the map of my brain & how much you occupy its residency,

If I were to let it out, it would stretch around the glob in search of your hug

Then I would imprison you, with in my embrace against my bosom;

As I close my eyes & sigh, a sign of speechless feelings –

           

But I want to be an athlete –

I would bear the pain to win a gold medal in your name

I would choose to be a runner-

so I can run & cover all the high & low lands

Where you have travelled too,

Increasing my pace, anxious to discover the next place

While my pulse, beats like Kebero & my sweat drips like the rain -

I would cross the centuries old flawless streams & rivers,

That has nurtured the ole’ mighty Nubians;

As it flow down north cleansing & baptizing everything on its way,

I would tell the Nile, no! no! no! you will no longer erode my land

First, you will pay your tribute here to my people at hand

Then, I would run nonstop brushing through the endless valley of vegetation,

Where the wind is in a peaceful harmony, against the slop & the water falls

I would rise to the mountaintop – to receive your words, from the blissful skies

You are my September’s Adey Abeba - ever so blossoming flower

You are the soul in our life - that blooms in infinite colors;

If I were gifted, I would write you a poem that becomes our national anthem

so the world could hear it sang, each & everyday -

As your shining GREEN YELLOW & RED happy colors lay

Horizontally, just & equally closer to the gods,

Way way high, up the mighty blue sky…

Humming a song, “WE ARE ONE”

It has been, and it will always be!!!

Although, our void is too deep to fill

A lifetime, too short for our pain to heal

our sorrow, too immense to cheer

Our Heaven, our Joy, is far and near

Our Heaven is far

        where it tends to our beloved dear

Our joy is near,

       Because, in millions his blossoming seeds are here.

I’m neither gifted nor a poet of a flawless biro

Just a lucky offspring to carry your torch – and call you my Hero

Your WORDS explain what you believe,

your ACTIONS shows what you weave,

your PASSION communicates to our soul

and your LOVE has pulled us all.

Your dreams are cultivated & kept deep

We are bestowed a nation to lead

and mighty promises to keep

Your vision and your nurturing deeds

Will sure ripe through your ever-

Promising seeds

With so much love in return, one out of many

Daniel Aug 2012