Poetry

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By

Izunna Okafor

Roasted Faraway

For Prof. Pius Adesanmi 1972-2019

Beyond the shrubs of Sahara

Lifted a munt of brainy bond

Over the Mississippi of Ethiopia

Lofted a penner with his hunky thoughts

Across the bridge of a foreign land

Hovered a book of beautiful pages

Tightly enclaved yet as an Ireland

In a skull rounded in the clime of golden edges

Off the coast of Addis Ababa

Tears rang bell aloud

Beholding a star being staggered

In a nimbus of a faraway land

A heroic pen was raptly melted

As the book of many pages shattered across the ocean

A nation’s pride has become ashes

Making a wave in the hist of the deadly world

Oh! he was roasted faraway

Faraway his father land

Amidst tears in the eyes his nation

A great gem was ruefully tossed

The ashes of his fecund head

The cranes of his creative fingers

The cremains of his eagle eyes

Now pose lifeless in a foreign land

He’s gone

A hero is gone

Roasted in a faraway land

Oh! He’s gone forever

Pius Adesanmi (born 27th Feb. 1972) was an award-winning Nigerian-born poet, Poet, Essayist and Columnist, and literary critic. A renowned intellectual, he was also a Canadian professor who taught at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. He was one of Nigeria’s leading public intellectuals and an internationally acclaimed author. He was a well celebrated and beloved writer with sharp intellect and found humor in the most grim, politically-fueled subjects, often about his home country — Nigeria, as typified in his magnum opus – Naija No Dey Carry Last published in 2015.

Prof. Adesanmi was among the 157 victims who died on Sunday, March 10, 2019, when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed.

May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

Izunna Okafor

Izunna Okafor is an award-wining creative Young Nigerian Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Journalist, Editor, Translator, Publicist, Igbo Language Activist and an Administrator who hails from Ebenator in Nnewi South L.G.A of Anambra State Nigeria. He has published seven novels, won over 25 awards, and has over 800 articles published online.