Nile, the Mighty River!
By Alemayehu Gebrehiwot
Nile is the name of the mighty river.
We call it Abbay, with love and wonder
Signifying grandeur and unmatched majesty.
Etched in everyone’s heart and soul,
Deep in the art and literature.
Egyptian brothers and sisters love the Nile too,
I’ve seen the festivities they really do.
The likes of “Wafaa El-Nil”, Fidelity of the River.
But, by heavens, it won’t be fair
To love the child and hate the mother:
Ethiopia, source of the Nile.
Our people,
Making do with no light, dying thirsty,
Sweat day and night to rise from poverty.
Steamrolling a life-changing project called the GERD,
Al-Sadd Nahdah in Arabic, a renasissnace rekindled,
History in the making, Ethiopia is moving forward!
Naguib Sawiris, the wealthiest man, declares war;
evidently not for the good of the Egyptian poor,
but for his fellow billionaires
who may benefit, as the warmongers.
Sawiris talks the talk, ‘cause he won’t be hurt,
his own children are not gonna fight!
Like the towering mogul, the rulers of Egypt
have sabotaged, day in, day out
to destabilize, weaken a nation
as generous as the Lord in Heaven.
Now they have a new entourage,
some members of the Arab League.
Shameful creatures, good-for-nothing.
What happened to you, Egypt?
Your rulers driven by greed,
stabbing a nation from behind
with propaganda, trumpeting a war
against the source of Nile, your life-giver.
No Egyptian soldier survived
the battles of Gura and Gundet,
Pompous Egyptian rulers started
and Rashid Pasha and Osman Neghib led.
The Ethiopians have long fought
this injustice, standing firm for their God-given right.
But are so sweet to their brothers and sisters,
East, West, North and South, across all borders
when they come on good terms.
I trust real Egyptians are wise enough
and distinguish a scarecrow from truth.
Politicians’ bravado won’t help for sure,
their motto is always staying in power.
We, the citizens, should stand together.
The Author:
Alemayehu writes plays in Amharic. His major translations also include Lady Winderemer’s Fan by Oscar Wilde, The Sultan’s Dilemma by Tewfiq al Hakim and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The first two have been successfully staged in Addis Ababa. He has an anthology of Amharic poems, Etalem (Endeared Sister). His several English poems are also included in Songs We Learn from Trees (Carcanet Press, 2020, edited by Beckett and Tebeje, UK). He is the editor of Tesfaye Lema’s book YeEtyopya Muziqa Tarik (A History of Ethiopian Music).
Disclaimer:
The views & opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Ethiosports and are not intended to malign any group or individual.
