Afrika Shrine
Akeem Lasisi
Horns will blare again tonight
Energies will burst forth,
At the New Afrika Shrine
We shall dance in the moon of progressive horns.
The jackboot once did their worst
Sought to quench our thirst for freedom songs
When they crushed the Kalakuta Republic like an insurgent troop
But they could only crack the wall and not the soul
Now that they are still groping through the forest of their tattered consciences
Searching for the Unkown Soldier that stopped the show –
Clobbered the singer together with his horn
Flung down his mum from the struggle’s pent house
And set ablaze the sacred house –
When they are still groping
Nursing an open wound that will never heal
Year in year out,
Fighting a music that can never blink…
A temple has risen from the ash of hate
From the loin of the Kalakuta plantain
The New Afrika Shrine has bubbled forth.
So, the horns will blare again tonight
Energies will burst forth
At the New Afrika Shrine
We dance in the sun of progressive horns.
The poem is published in ‘Phenomenal Lagos: 5o Monuments in the Centre of Excellence’, authored by Akeem Lasisi and Kabir Garba
