By Ngam Emmanuel, World BEYOND War, September 20, 2020

THE WARS OF ASSIMILATION

Strong swift historical tidal waves
Drifted captors ashore. Shipwrecked
Cruel fate, imprisoned freedom

Stupefied by sunny sandy beaches
Flourish of virgin forest,
Unearthed gems, rich oil wells
Invaders waged a war of conquest.

Thronged into the land with baboonish might,
Consumed by self- importance of full-sized men
carved out a satellite province of Lilliput.
Forced her into a concubinage.

Monarchical kakistocracy implanted.
Strived under grip and whip,
Institutionalising the reign of terror
Coughing out stinking corruption

Lilliputians, transformed into hands,
Tagged contemptuously as brainless
Despised because of origin, language and
Diminutive sizes, accorded second class status.

The monarch to fully dominate, launch,
Wars of assimilation at multiple fronts.
Mental intoxication, falsified curriculum
Smearing youth with sooth of ignorance,
Obstructing the light of true history.

Calculated demolition of structures and institutions,
That made Lilliput famous and proud.
Siphon of rich oil wells, leaving people thirsty
And hungry. Desert encroaching due to
Wanton butchery of virgin forest.

Pent-up frustrations, ignited flames of liberty,
hatching persistent uproars,
shaking fragile foundation of a loose
Incompetent corrupt monarchy.

Trepidation in the silver palace
King in precipitation unleashes
egregious lethal crackdown on divorcees.

Satellite transformed into battlefield.
War machines intone dirges as they
swallow of up fleeing souls. Whimpers
Of pain submerged by its pounding.

Manned birds fart bombs and bullets.
Infantry loots, rapes, kills and roasts villages
Armed groups crop up daily
Conflict grows bigger
Death toll on the rise
Journey to freedom bloodier,
The world watching in sadistic approval.
The wheels of progress on a stand still.

Ngam Emmanuel is a poet, writer, advocate of political justice, and high school teacher in Cameroon. Ngam graduated from Higher Teacher Training College with a Diploma in Languages (French and English).