Yewande Akinse
This poem tells of a place I have been which I loved. In drawing my life map, Kigali will be ranked with fondness.
land of a thousand hills,
called with the fondness of natives -
Hutu, Tutsi and Twa
and the elevated.
I remember you;
true blue skies
lands greening and ing
air, fresh as the morning
and your hair, a natural sheen
in the sun - high and nigh
the modesty of your women
the comeliness of your men
and the innocence of your children.
this savoury taste lingers of mizuzu
and passion fruit.
elevated above the tremor of a genocidal past
as a leader in the assembly of nations.
your name I proclaim, Rwanda
your fame, landlocked in the rift valley of the centre
I give you the sobriquet, “The Great”