A Basket of Flaming Ashes

Betrayed

37 A Basket of Flaming Ashes Betrayed For Weka I fell headlong for you Your saintly face goaded me to sing Your seminary days lured me Your snippets of my language at dawn caught me I matured on the wings of your new deal But you betrayed me too soon What happened to the ring binding us? The ‘‘united’’ in our names? I obeyed you as my lord I draped you in colorful clothes I made my house home And called you ‘‘fon of fons’’ Everything of mine became yours The nectar from my tea leaves The pods from my cocoa The coffee from my farms I let you swim in my sea, And gave you my oil You anchored at my harbor. What else was I supposed to do? 38 Joyce B. Ashuntantang Like your true love I stayed Wide eyed waiting for you No airports lead you to me No roads can bring you home But I sang dimabola* Hoping for sunrise at dusk Now decisions excite me And my future bugs me Can you meet me at the M. bridge?** * popular church song in Cameroon adapted for use usually in pro-government political rallies. ** Moungo Bridge which serves as a boundary between English and French speaking. Cameroon ...