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TO MEN OF SOUL
That Achebe should herald us men of soul—
repositories of the spirits of the ancestors—
Ancestors rooted deep
in the earth of our hearts.
The sovereignty
they have chosen to bequeath
to those sons landed here
must not be bastardized with retreat—
dissolution…secret evasion—ethnocide.
We are the longevity vases
of the stems of our beginnings;
soul water holes for the revitalization
of the spirits of faith.
Far be from it…that despair—
that grim tenantry…be allowed
to find lodging in the loop-holes
and setbacks of the struggle.
Indeed, let not the weight
of deferred dreams…shadowed
visions and broken promises
crush the pillars of hope
that uphold the temples of our faith.
Let us not forget—men of soul—ours
is the mission possible…to smash divisiveness…
disconnectedness…and suspect—
bringing healing and wholeness of unity
in our struggle for total liberation.
Come brethren—men of soul…with God…
with the breastplate of His liberating love…come
let us strengthen ourselves for the journey—
leaving ancestral footprints for our children to plod.
