FREEDOM BACK HOME… NOSTALGIA

By: Alagie Jinkang

When the homecoming party is over
When the dust eventually settles and the euphoria dies down
When the tears dry and the sobbing ends
When the stories missed are told late in the night
When the children born before the day are now recognised
When the streaming in of well-wishers and curious neighbours slowly thins
When the graveyards are visited and prayers are offered to the death
When the bathing is done in the seas to cleanse the ill-luck
When the neighbours are visited to console them on the deaths that happened many seasons ago
When we do all the rituals and the appeasement
When the letters of appreciation are written and sent
When the reality of the new-found freedom sinks in
Then a time for national reflection and soul searching
Retracing the steps to where we began
Analysing the whys and the wherefores that took us there
Home truth telling we should do
Each to the face of the other, eyeball to eyeball
Confessions and forgiveness
Our part in the ordeal, theirs in the family agony
Freeing the truth, the truth freeing us
The path to healing excruciatingly long
Youth lost in the afternoon of life
Aspirations truncated at ripened stage
Broken lives to rebuild there
Shattered dreams to re-pursue here
Moth-eaten pieces to pick from where they were dropped
To move on, eyes set on the goal
Journey through life a marathon
A setback in life an experience to aid future decision making

Lessons we must learn from this watershed
An important page in our annals
Fence mending we should do
Each your brother and sister’s keeper
Respecting Rights, Protecting Freedoms and Fulfilling Responsibilities
Living by truth and upholding the law
Cultivating values and establishing standards
Actioning the national anthem in whole and truly
Allowing clashes between opinions in the marketplace of ideas
Building the youth for the future

Happy for the families and the free
Extolling the magnanimity that made it
Praying the sun never sets on this our land
The Smiling Coast of Africa.