Straddling the Mungo: A Book of Poems in English and French: A Book of Poems in English and French

Cruel City

37 Straddling the Mungo Cruel City In our country We live on the alert, Gripped by fear of torturers— Mange-milles devoid of shame Who steal in broad day light. In Ongola, Everyone lives in hiding Because of swindling gendarme officers And illiterate zangalewa16 Who are unbearably brutal. At home, We live at the mercy of criminals, Many of them university graduates, Working in collusion with law enforcement officers To terrorize and burgle civilians. We are sick and tired of forces of law and order Who turn a blind eye to crime. At home, We live in fear, Caused by an outrageous dictatorship— Puppet heads of State Totally deprived of intelligence! In Ongola, We have had enough of torture, We have had enough of dictatorship, We have had enough of swindling, We are sick and tired of window-dressing, We are not the ‘wretched of this earth’17 ! 16 Soldiers 17 Reference to Frantz Fanon’s classic The Wretched of the Earth (New York, Grove Press, 1963) ...